If you were to survey the opinions of students in Bellevue about the new anti-phone policy, I’m sure most of them would be strongly against it. Hot take: the new phone policy can actually be beneficial to our student body.
On top of allowing students to neglect their education and suddenly become mute when it’s time to talk with their peers, cell phone use in the classroom often fuels students’ poor mental health. This is why Bellevue Public Schools decided to implement the phone policy. As is quitting any addiction–especially something like our phones that gives us a ton of dopamine–we are going to struggle. Of course it’s going to be hard in the beginning to break the habit of using our phones anytime class gets slow, or when we lose our already short attention span. I can tell you, it’s extremely difficult for me. However, when we all get used to it, I’m sure we will be grateful our work ethic is better than before. We might even enjoy disconnecting for 7-8 hours a day.
According to Matthew Yglesias on slowboring.com, “being without a phone actually makes people a little calmer. I think many of us have probably experienced this on a long flight — it can be inconvenient to be out of touch with the world for several hours, but it’s often also kind of freeing.”
The new cell phone policy has multiple academic benefits including: reduced distractions, improved academic performance, reduced dependence on technology, and enhanced engagement. A study done by Melissa Huey and David Giguere observed that when a bunch of college students were randomly assigned to have their phones physically taken outside of the classroom before class, their mindfulness and comprehension of the course material increased.
The policy also includes more safety and security benefits such as, avoiding false communications, reduced social pressure, and safer walking/driving due to less distraction. UNESCO reported that when students are constantly distracted by their phones, it makes task switching increasingly difficult for weaker students. You could group students into three types. The first type are the kids who consistently get their work done, always on time, etc. The third type are the kids who never get their work done, always off task, whatever. The second type are the people in between. With our phones available, the off-task students would be on them, and the people in between would be inclined to follow. Students with stronger self-discipline probably wouldn’t budge. I can admit that the second type of student is me. If I see people on their phones in class, I feel the need to go on mine too. It’s almost contagious how seeing someone else scrolling through TikTok makes me want to do the same.
Some kids might argue that their cell phones allow them to collaborate on projects, share documents, get their work done faster, etc. Maybe they should try being honest with themselves for once. The real reason they argue these useless points is because they want to slack off on their phones. I’m just being 100% real. All of the counter arguments made against the phone policy are weak and are all probably made by people who have a combined GPA of 1.2, IQ score in the negatives, skip class 24/7, and vape in the handicap stall.
Yes, I do think some parts of the phone policy are stupid. Listening to music during downtime in class should definitely be allowed. It makes me uncomfortable to sit in a completely silent class doing work–or doing nothing–without music for an hour and a half. In painting class for example, when there is the occasional substitute, we will just be painting in silence. The no airpods/music part of the phone policy makes me appreciate the teachers who put in effort to make class fun, or play music in the background of our work time. However, it also makes me dread the classes and dislike the teachers who don’t. That being said, I still think putting my phone away helps me focus better. I’m not very good at self-disciplining myself enough to stay off of my phone at school; I know if the phone policy wasn’t here I wouldn’t be able to lock in and keep up with my grades.
In conclusion, I think that the phone policy will be beneficial to our student body. Despite the flaws, the policy has some good parts. Only time will tell if it actually makes a difference.
