Phones . . . Parents, psychologists, and even the school tells students regularly that these technological devices are bad for them. They take away focus from academics. They increase stress levels. They affect sleep. They can have negative impacts on mental health. The list goes on. For these reasons, the school recently updated the phone policy, severely limiting how much time students have on their phones during the academic school day.
However, as a student who often does not have a phone for months at a time, this new policy doesn’t affect me. I have seen first hand how hard it is to get through a regular school day without one. It is an ironic situation, yet one most students here at Elkhorn North never face.
#1: Phone caddies
The new phone policy in the handbook forces students to “put up” their phones at the beginning of each class. Teachers remind their students to do so everyday as soon as the bell rings. Many teachers then proceed to walk over to the caddy, and take attendance based on whoever put their phones up, effectively catching disobedient students who decided to hold onto their phones.
For me, this situation normally goes one of two ways:
1.) I am counted absent since I do not have a phone to put in the caddy, even though the teacher can obviously see me.
2.) The teacher turns around and scans the room to find me. Once they see that I am in fact not absent, they ask “No phone?”
I always respond with “Nope, don’t have it.” They then narrow their eyes and ask “why”, which leaves me having to explain what I did wrong to get my phone taken away in front of the entire class, which is never a fun situation for me as it gives my peers good fuel for bullying.
Sometimes, to avoid this, I tell the teacher before class starts that I have had my phone taken, and that it will probably remain taken for a while. This gives me about a week of no questions about my phone, but by the following week my teachers normally forget.
Another problem that arises is having to explain to a substitute that I do not know why the teacher has not written that down for the sub to know. This causes an awkward argument that can take up to five minutes at the start of class. This further delays the class and takes longer to get to any actual learning.
And lastly, some teachers offer extra credit to students who have “put their phone up”. This happened twice in my freshman year, and caused a major disagreement between my parents and my civics teacher. I’m quite certain that she hated me for the remainder of that year.
#2: Class Assignments
At the start of every new school year, there is at least one class that forces its students to do a get-to-know-you activity. Teachers will let their students use their phones in class to retrieve needed photos for their assignment, emailing photos to themselves, or downloading them to their drive.
Without a phone, this assignment proves to be much harder than it should be. I have to wait until I am home to ask my parents to email photos of myself to my school account, which tends to be a feat within itself.
There are other various assignments during the school year that force students to have photos of themselves attached as well.
#3: School Activities
Many different activities at the school rely on student group chats to spread information. GroupMe is a common app used for these purposes, with Student Council, Newspaper, the Spring Play, and various other clubs using it.
Since I do not have a phone, I am unable to use GroupMe and lose valuable information about the clubs and activities I am involved in at the school.
#4: Free time
During free time before class, after class, or even during, students resort to their phones to watch TikToks or Snap their friends. Without a phone, these moments prove to be awkward as I have nothing else to do but pull out my chromebook and play the Wordle. After the word of the day has been solved, I am forced to sit there with nothing to do until the end of class.
Students always use their phones in the hallway whilst walking to their next class. Especially when they see someone they do not want to talk to. Without a phone, I am forced to smile and say hi to whoever greets me in the halls.
Conclusion
Next time you complain about not being able to have your phone during class, remember that there are students who are not fortunate enough to put their phone up and even face consequences because of it.
