Originally Published in the November 26th Print Publication
It’s like clockwork. When the digital clock turns into class time there’s always a congregation of students around a particular wooden box with little slits cut into it, known affectionately as the “Phone Home,” or more derogatorily, the “Phone Jail.” Everyone’s familiar with the bright yellows of the phone holders that capture your phone—and your attention—the second class starts. There are invariably those who slip their phones in pockets or through pieces of their backpack, but it’s held up. Through studies and anecdotes alike, there is a general consensus on not having phones during class. That unspoken promise, though, isn’t enough for some.
I’m sure most of you reading this are aware of potential policy changes to mobile device policies in NSD. Well, I’m here to tell you your voices can be heard. The Mobile Device Task Force, announced publicly around two months ago, is working to give a recommendation on mobile devices in the future of NSD. I am one of the students on the committee, and while I can’t reveal its inner machinations, I can provide my perspective on these issues. By the end of this, I hope you can too.
Mobile devices have been a point of contention ever since the entry of Generation Z, a generation who has never seen a world without mobile phones. A growing number of schools outside of NSD have restricted or banned mobile device usage in schools. One threatening factor that pushed this decision is the so-called loneliness epidemic; take one look around our cafeteria and count how many are on their phones. It’s scary, but change has always been scary.
The truth is, mobile devices aren’t going away. In fact, they are the future. The truth is that we won’t have Phone Spas or a set of rules for how to use our phones during work. We’ll get fired or keep our jobs. We won’t be babied when we’re in the working world. In high school are often told to act like young adults. If we’re to act like young adults, I’d recommend we get treated like them too.
It is true that mental health decline has been correlated with social media usage, but it’s practically performative to cite phones as the only root cause of it. Social media education is lackluster at best and is nonexistent at worst. There is no etiquette being taught in any levels of schooling surrounding mobile devices. That key step is one that should be taken immediately in order to sense out the problem before running straight towards a solution. If the problem is over-usage, the solution isn’t removal: it’s teaching.
Another point being made by students and parents is safety. Safety is consistently, across multiple studies, the top motivator for parents to get their children phones. The argument has been made to call the office, but fielding thousands of calls, questions, and queries every day from both ends is extremely time consuming for both parents and staff. It’s more efficient to just text parents during the five minutes of passing period; that’s mostly what passing period is used for, anyway. In the event of something such as a school shooting happening on campus, arguments have been made that it would hinder students safety to have children texting their parents. But no matter what, information or not, no amount of silence will stop a parent from rushing to find their child. Students with uncertain fates will not hesitate to take their banned phones out of their backpacks, where they’ll inevitably be, and use it to text their parents. Students should be able to feel connected to the world around them. Banning mobile devices is just restricting student freedom further.
Ultimately, it’s up to the district to decide. But it can be up to you, too. Taking the mobile device survey, telling the adults in your life your thoughts, even emailing me at [email protected] if you want me to consolidate your ideas into something that could be presented to the rest of the mobile devices task force. It is up to you, up to us, to do what’s right. For yourselves, for the future generations, and most importantly, for the fate of our Phone Homes.
