School-wide Phone Policy: Unnecessary, Unimplementable, and Unwarranted

House Bill 715, created by Joshua Tarsky, would require a strict phone policy to be implemented in all Massachusetts public schooling systems.

Bill H.715 outlines a plan for phone-free schools, under which students would be required to keep their phones in locked pouches from first bell to last–a drastic change from what the majority of schools practice today.

At schools today, it is reasonable to assume every single student has a phone, and it is undeniable that these phones can be massive distractions. Phones have not existed in school settings until recently, and while schools are still learning to navigate how to manage them without overstepping, bill H.715 is too far of a regulation to be considered rational.

An important consideration Tarsky failed to make was the existence of open campus schools, and the complications his plan would bring. On open campus schools, students are allowed to leave when they don’t have a class. Thus, Inaccess to their phones would create issues not only with safety but with communication and the potential need for navigation, because despite the argument that these actions are possible without a phone, phones have become a central part of many young adult’s lives. This policy, if made a requirement in these open campus schools, would create a needless difficulty for students and for administrators.

Additionally, this policy is proven to be unnecessary due to other regulations that have already been implemented. Many highschools across the state have already put in place“phone pouch” policies, and schools have been given the liberty to regulate phone usage as they see fit. This policy allows students to have their phones between passing periods and during blocks off, but permits teachers to mandate the usage of these pouches during class time. Furthermore,this policy minimizes distraction, but does not require students to give up their phones in their own time. 

If schools were to require locked pouches instead of the pre-existing phone pouches, it would be a substantial financial investment.. Lockable pouches for hundreds of students per grade in every town is not an expendable purchase, and would require significant investment. It would also put the pouches that have already been purchased for every classroom to waste. Not only would the purchase of the pouches themselves be costly, but to have administration monitor the pouches and ensure students who needed their phones be able to get them during all school hours would likely require additional staff. Therefore, these pouches are not a wise investment for schools to make.

Public support for the regulation of phones in schools is undeniable, but it must be dealt with without strict statewide policy. Leaving the liberty of what to do about phones up to individual schools allows them to take their own circumstances into consideration, like what resources they already have and how much freedom their students are awarded. Parents, teachers, and students recognize access to phones is a safety concern, and taking away this access entirely would bring considerable backlash. There are ways to manage the distraction that phones bring, without completely removing them. This bill cannot be passed, so that cell phones may be dealt with in a more sensible and adjustable manner. 

Naiya Smith