Phones have become an issue that has been difficult to contain. In the past, students have been reluctant to give up what they see as their personal right to carry a prized possession everywhere they go, me included. Honestly, I was almost offended by the news of a new rule to regulate my favorite possession. I was so headstrong about all the good a cellular device can bring to the classroom or how it can quietly fill all my free time I have during school. If somebody were to tell me a month ago that the phone rule would be beneficial to my education, I would be shocked. But to my surprise, the rule has done nothing but change my outlook in a positive way.

Although school has technically been in session less than a month, I feel like I have already ridden my bad habits. Until my phone privilege was revoked, I never noticed how many times an hour I would pick my phone up just to check the same notifications I had from five minutes ago. The time I have spent apart from my phone has even made me lose interest in all of its contents. Now when I get my phone at lunch, I stare blankly at the screen, almost feeling clueless as to what to do. I would rather be talking to my friends, or even be doing something productive like homework than to sit on my phone. I get the majority of my work done in school unlike last year where I would wait to do things until the last minute. I find myself wanting to get assignments out of the way so that if I have questions or need help, I’m not scrambling to find a solution.  

Even though I have noticed the optimistic side of things, that doesn’t mean I don’t miss my phone at all. I miss being able to listen to music while I work, or even just sending a quick text to my mom. I hadn’t really realized how convenient my phone has become for my day to day tasks, I would also use my phone in class for a calculator if I had forgotten one or to read articles for school related projects. 

DCHS Spanish teacher Mrs. Hollingsworth said, “I love seeing kids talking instead of texting.” A common misconception is that teachers want to take their students’ phones because they find joy in it, or maybe even find it funny. That is not the case. Mrs. Holllingsworth has noticed that her students are much more engaged in her classroom activities. “I think in the long run this new rule is best for students and their education experience,” she stated.

We high school students do not know life without technology, so we don’t look at issues like having cell phones in the classroom in the same way that many adults do. Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox, iPods, and iPads were all staples of our younger years. We don’t like to admit it, but in reality, we were probably consuming too much screen time. These prior mini addictions have just fed into one that is so much greater, the usage of our phones. My screen time, even on school days last year, would reach past five hours easily. Now that eight hours of my day are strictly focused on school, I have noticed a significant drop in my screen time. This just goes to show how big of a difference a small change has already made. I believe that as time goes on and school becomes more difficult and busy, students will be grateful that their biggest distraction has been eliminated.