Students at Clarence High School have been using their phones during the day for years. Going from being able to text your friends whenever you need to not even being able to check the time has been a big adjustment for many. With the school year starting just a few weeks ago, things have been very different from past years. This law was just recently established in New York State, beginning this school year of 2025-2026. It applies to all schools K-12, and it is known as the “Distraction-Free Schools” / “Bell-to-Bell” law. Schools have been able to have some flexibility in the way that they decided to enforce this rule. Some schools have decided to use lockable pouches, classroom storage boxes, or even just enforced discipline. Clarence High School went the route of having students put their phones into their lockers before the first bell rings, and only retrieving them after the last bell. While this law is strongly supported by New York State, there are positives and negatives to this new system.

This new phone ban has had a significant impact on many things positively, bringing some unique benefits. The school day as a whole has been changed for many people, including study halls, lunches and other free periods. These used to be a short time during the school day where most people would relax on their phones, and take a step back from the long day. However, now reaching for your phone is not an option. This forces students to be more productive, either socially or academically. A lot of people are very busy outside of school, and while it can be hard to focus in school, having extra time to do your work while in school is extremely useful. You are much more likely to do work in school in a study hall compared to at home, and this gives that option. Another benefit this brings is in the classroom. While not having phones, students are encouraged to pay attention more and it is much easier. It can be hard to stay focused while in school, but having no phone to reach for it enables you to get more out of sitting in class. Being on your phone less can also help with sleep, as being on your phone is worse for your sleep schedule. By building this patience of not being on your phone during the day you will in turn have an easier time sleeping and be less likely to reach for your phone during late hours of the night. Overall there are a lot of benefits, but at the same time there are a lot of disadvantages to it.

While the phone ban might seem positive, it definitely comes with some negatives. In years past it has been so easy to contact your friends and family, whenever you needed to. Now that we do not have access to our phones, this is almost impossible. Reaching out to someone for any reason is very limited, and this can be stressful or difficult for some. Additionally, phones can be used as a powerful tool. While we do have our chromebooks, sometimes they are not as easily accessible and effective as a phone could be. A lot of things are blocked on our chromebooks, and we do not have that much access on our chromebooks compared to our phones. There are many different apps and resources on our phones that can be useful to us, and now we do not have access to them. On top of that, after we go without being on our phones for 6-8 hours, as soon as we get out of school students will likely immediately reach for their phones. This can be extremely dangerous for students who are parking and driving in the parking lot, but also just students walking through the parking lot. This can lead to looking down at your phone instead of paying attention to your surroundings, or even being on your phone while driving. These both are major safety concerns, and should be taken seriously. 

This phone ban is still new, and will take some time to get used to. It is definitely an adjustment, and as the year goes on we will see how the school adjusts even more, and adapts to this new situation.