Imagine reaching in your bag to text your parents about a big event, grabbing your phone, beginning to text, and Mr. Quinn walks up to you and takes it for the day. Well that’s become a reality for Students of Cresskill High School. Recently, our school has banned phones in hopes it would reduce distractions, lower rates of cheating, and reduce the risks of privacy invasions and cyber bullying. Everyone is adjusting in different ways. While some people say it’s effective, many argue the other side, so what’s really going on? Well, I’ve talked to students and most of them aren’t happy.
Students who support the ban declare that it’s effective and keeps classrooms quieter. When asked if they thought the phones were a distraction, Lia Cheng, a senior at Cresskill High School said, “Yeah definitely because I see kids scrolling on TikTok when they’re not supposed to, taking pictures, playing brawl stars.” Students should not be playing games during class, it can be distracting and make students uninterested. It’s not only teens who see differences after the ban, teachers have also noticed an increase in student participation and social interactions which seems to be a direct result of the phone ban. While many say that the transition was hard at first, felt unnatural and weird, but as it’s been almost a year since the ban, it feels less artificial and less forced.
On the other hand, others aren’t too happy. Students feel restricted from having the freedom to be on their phone and worry they are being disconnected from the digital world. When asked about how they felt about the phone ban, almost a year later, senior Adam Gadish answered, “I think it hasn’t done anything positive, if anything it has more negatives because kids that used to be distracted by their phones are now speaking and disrupting teachers and classes, and they are distracting me. If anything, it made people less social”. Since phones were taken away, teens that were once distracted by their devices, now are disturbing the class environment, taking away from everyone’s learning experience. Students feel that teachers and staff no longer trust them, as well as having concerns for their safety.
Overall, the phone ban has its pros and cons. For one, it can encourage real life interactions, improving communication from teens, it cancels distractions from phones, and can keep classrooms more silenced. The other side suggests it is too restrictive, and argues that the phone ban makes class actually more distracting. In the end, it is important for Cresskill High School to find a balance between the two opinions to meet student needs and encourage a healthy learning environment.
