At the start of the 2025-26 school year, Ohio set new laws for students' access to cell phones. It is now required that each student be prohibited from using their phone from the first to the last period.
Last fall, Ohio created a rule that allowed students to be on their phones only during lunch and passing periods. Since then, it has become stricter, leaving many high schoolers annoyed, especially upperclassmen who experienced school without the limitations.
Although it is agitating to be stripped away from our devices, it does offer benefits. To start, teachers have shared how their classrooms used to be silent during advisory or when there were a few minutes till the bell rang. This is because students were hooked on their phones, doomscrolling on TikTok, or texting friends instead of having conversations with the people at their tables.
Mr. Whalen, AHS History teacher, shared his thoughts on the new phone laws and how the kids in his classroom acted when they were allowed to utilize their devices during class.
“There would be individuals who wouldn’t, but largely, instead of everyone chatting or socializing, they would just pull out their phones and everyone would be in their own little sphere of interaction,” Whalen said.
But now, with the ban on phones at school, students can build more relationships with the people around them instead of staring at a screen inches from their faces.
Another benefit from the new changes in our state's phone rules is staying on top of work.
Before the new laws were implemented, some teachers still made their students keep their phones tucked away during specific parts of class to keep them free from distractions.
However, in other classes, such as a study hall, students' phones were always available; they were kept on their desks, and eventually, students were scrolling through Instagram instead of finishing their assignments.
But, having new policies where students can not use their phones gives more motivation to finish work on time, as well as being more efficient without texting other students during class time that was given to complete an assignment.
Although it is nice to be allowed to scroll on our phones from time to time, we will ultimately be less associated with other students because we will constantly be on our devices. In addition, we would accumulate more homework during the week because it was not completed when it could have been at school.