Needham High Should Not Ban Cell Phones

The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted in late June to ban cell phones starting January 2025. This past summer, a number of Needham parents and faculty expressed frustration with cell phone use in class, and advocated for a stricter policy. Going into the 2024-2025 school year, that has become a reality: the administration is making “phone hotels” mandatory in all classes, including x-block. However, Needham should not follow the LA School Board’s example. An absolute ban isn’t feasible, and it goes against the school’s mission. Even having students surrender their phones in class seems generally impractical and ineffective.

Cell phone use is necessary in nearly every class here at Needham High, especially post-COVID. Math teachers often ask students to scan and upload their work to Google Classroom as a PDF. Students in art courses are required to take photos documenting their progress and research. In world language, students frequently record themselves speaking. And across classes, many teachers now encourage using a phone instead of a computer for activities like Kahoot.

None of these are impossible tasks without a cell phone, but alternative methods tend to require resources that the administration can’t reasonably provide to a student body of over 1,700. It is easier, cheaper, and more accessible for students to do these tasks with the cell phones they already own. 

Additionally, 49% of students said listening to music helps them while working and studying, according to a recent poll conducted by CSU Global. Even if students don’t have a study period, much of the school day -- including in-class time -- is spent doing classwork, homework, or studying for tests, not receiving instruction from a teacher. Students should have access to the tools that help them learn best, especially when they are working by themselves. It seems frankly unreasonable that even in x-block students should have to put their phones away, since zero classroom activity happens during the period.

Furthermore, one of Needham High’s learning expectations is “personal responsibility.” Students are accountable for getting work done and paying attention in class. The school provides adequate resources and support, but students must support themselves too. They are responsible for putting away their phone if they are distracted.

Still, phone use is frustrating for teachers, a quarter of whom nationwide support an outright ban. In Needham, several teachers have come forward to vocalize their complaints about cell phones in class. This summer, an anti-cell phone parent Facebook group called Needham Family Collective was formed. They now boast nearly 170 members, and cite delaying phone and social media for kids and banning cellphones in school as top priorities. 

But given how integral cell phones are to learning today, that isn’t realistic. That kind of ban would also be highly ineffective, since much of the distractions that cause students to constantly be on their phones -- social media, online shopping, The New York Times daily crossword -- are also available on computers, including the school-issued Chromebooks. These distractions aren’t going away, they’re just going to be easier to hide because now students will only do them on the same device they use for classwork. 

Moreover, some of the responsibility falls on the parent to enforce good habits and appropriate rules for their own child regarding phone use. Rather than pressuring the administration to enforce an outright ban or even the new “phone hotel” policy, parents could advocate for teaching methods that don’t constantly require students to take out their phones in the first place. For example, QR codes are a common way that Needham teachers link activities for students to complete independently. QR codes are most easily scannable via a phone camera, so replacing them with regular hyperlinks would eliminate a reason for students to get distracted on their phone.  

Whether we like it or not, phones have become a permanent fixture in modern society, and that extends to places of education. They are undoubtedly here to stay for the foreseeable future. It remains to be seen if the “phone hotel” policy will hold for the entire year, but in the long run, Needham must adapt to cell phones, not ban them.