The Cellphone Dilemma - Editorial
As summer wanes and September approaches, so, too, does the start of a new school year. There are various discussions being had in each of the Upper Cape’s school districts in preparation for the students’ return, but there is one topic that seems to be on everyone’s agenda that is of particular interest to us: students’ use of cellphones at school.
Knowing firsthand how distracting a smartphone—which is what everyone seems to have now—can be for even a fully developed adult brain, we see the need to curb their use during school hours, and especially during class time.
The older generations can’t relate, because this problem (and cellphones in general) didn’t exist when they were students. Millennials might be able to relate, but the cellphones of even that era were nothing like the iPhones and Androids of 2024.
Even Gen Z students had a significantly different experience—the technology was still smart 10 years ago, yes; but the culture surrounding it had not yet risen to the levels of obsessive use we so commonly see today, especially with adolescents and young people. Those who do remember the sneaky under-the-desk or behind-the-book covert texting schemes will likely agree—it was just different back then, or at least it seemed to be.
Many school districts, both across the state and country, are moving toward a similar policy on student cellphone use: students are expected to keep their devices away and/or off during school. This feels like a fair, pretty-baseline expectation from students that is easy to get behind.
Other iterations of this policy, though, go further, and give teachers and administrators the discretion to collect phones in a central, secure location, for either the duration of the class period or school day. This sounds like a good idea but, when taking into consideration the seriously pervasive problem of student safety due to instances of bullying or violence—specifically, this nation’s history of gun violence—we have some hesitation.
What if, for example, there is an active fire drill that requires immediate evacuation? We’d reckon that leaving the phones behind is a no-brainer, as loss of property is nothing compared to loss of life—but what if something else happens? We can think of a number of situations in which a student may need to access their cell phones that could occur during the school day, ranging from personal emergencies to the more dire, life-threatening circumstances that no one sees coming. And the policies, both from district-to-district and even classroom-to-classroom, can vary greatly. In any given school, teachers seem to vary in enforcement of cellphone policies in their classrooms, and messaging has so far been inconsistent.
Having a cellphone can be a critical difference maker in a violent or emergency situation, but it’s no use if you don’t have access to it. It is an absolutely horrifying thing to have to consider, but gun violence at schools has sadly become an ever-more-horrifying reality for countless American students. We have seen the news articles containing texts from students to their loved ones during active school shootings, spanning a number of states over a number of years. They are harrowing. It should never happen; no child should ever have to send a text like that, nor should a parent ever have to receive it. But it is, unfortunately, a very scary reality.
Any type of active threat to student safety is, of course, an absolute worst-case scenario, but it is still something that must be considered. There are plenty of reasons—valid ones, at that—for banning the use of cellphones in school. Students need to focus on school while they are at school, not on their phones. We still wonder, though, whether collecting students’ phones and storing them away, out of reach entirely and, in some cases, locked away, is really the best practice for reasons other than safety, and ignoring cellphones and other personal devices entirely feels impossible.
Is there a lesson to be taught here? Could this be an opportunity to teach students to practice self control that we are failing to capitalize on? Maybe—there won’t always be a teacher around to put your phone in a lockbox for you but, in today’s world, knowing when (and being able) to turn off your screens is a skill everyone at every age needs to succeed.