Taking your phone to school daily is a habit for all high school students.
They use it to listen to music on the bus, text or call their friends, take pictures, take notes, or for other purposes. However, a statewide ban has been proposed by New Jersey Governor Murphy, encouraging schools to disallow the use of cell phones for students.
Governor Murphy felt that proposing grant funding for phone-free policies was crucial for students to have an engaging learning experience at school. He had concerns for students’ mental health, their focus and overall academic performance, so he thought implementing this would help with that.
Schools such as Cherry Hill High School East and West have already implemented phone-ban policies in their district. Students have to put their phones in Yondr pouches at the beginning of the school day. The pouches lock the student’s phone, and they are not allowed to use it until the end of the day. This action has been taken to try and ensure minimal activity on students’ cellular devices throughout the day.
The proposed bill for a ban on cellphone use in schools is still being taken into consideration; however, if it passes, the Department of Education would have to develop guidelines for districts to follow.
There is also a possibility that if the policy is passed, it will be flexible and will still make exceptions for emergencies for students.
With this proposed policy, high schoolers have mixed feelings about what to think. Some support this, because they believe that social media and overall phone use may affect the student or distract them from learning to their full potential, while others are against it, because they think that it would not be beneficial, as students rely on their phones to unwind when needed.
Olivia Strother, a freshman at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, shared her thoughts about the ban.
“Cell phones shouldn’t be banned, because I think that they’re an important part of teenagers’ lives. It’s not only used for social media, but there are also essential uses for it, such as communicating with our parents if needed throughout the day. Also, listening to music while walking to my next class or while I’m doing independent work helps me focus, so I think phones are important in our everyday lives,” she said.
Overall, this phone ban is still being proposed. Even though some districts have already implemented this concept, it may or may not happen.
