This summer, Head of School Russell Shaw and High School Principal Yom Fox announced a new policy banning cell phones on campus from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Students caught with their phones on campus may face disciplinary action, including confiscation of the device and a possible case with the Disciplinary Consultation Committee.
The administration justifies the phone ban by citing concerns about student mental health, distractions and a lack of connection among the student body. However, this policy will do more harm than good. It will contribute to social isolation, it will make gaps in socioeconomic status more apparent, and it will make students unprepared for a future that will inevitably involve unlimited technology access.
Even during the first few days with the phone ban, I have struggled to meet my friends during lunch and breaks. Instead of being able to directly contact them on my phone, I have to walk around the building trying to find them. I don’t know where they are, so we spend a significant portion of our lunchtime searching for each other.
Any degree of social exclusion can impact someone’s mental health. Not having our phone to connect us to our peers can produce anxiety and limit social connection. Some of my friends have eaten lunch alone instead of with other people because they were unable to contact others beforehand. A lot of them have told me they feel socially isolated when they have no way to contact other people and instead have to eat alone.
The phone ban has pushed and will continue to inadvertently push students off campus during breaks as they seek opportunities to use their phone; students consistently leaving campus just to use their phones detracts from the community-building time the ban intended to kindle. I have seen people leave during lunch, short breaks between classes and all-school events to use their phones. Additionally, when students are encouraged to go off campus for lunch — because they all want to use their phones — they feel pressure to eat at restaurants, putting students who don’t want to spend the extra money for an off-campus lunch in an uncomfortable position.
Many students have already been trying to bypass the phone ban; they purchase iPads to access social media, digital cameras to take pictures and Apple Watches to communicate with people. I bought a digital camera so I can take pictures during the school day, and one of my friends bought an iPodTouch so she can text people while on campus.
While those with higher socioeconomic statuses can afford fancy technology to communicate with their peers, other students can only use a school-issued Chromebook — unable to read texts or call anyone. Although the phone ban may seem like it is creating a level playing field, it actually highlights the socioeconomic gaps in our community even more.
Finally, by banning phones completely, the administration is not helping students understand how to use phones responsibly. In our future — whether that be in further education or in the workplace — we are always going to be tempted by cell phones. Beyond high school, we are not likely to experience a complete ban on phones. If administrators and teachers truly want to prepare us for lives outside GDS — as the GDS website claims they do — they should teach us how to limit our own phone use and use good discretion when it comes to screen time. Banning them for a couple of hours a day is not going to help us; we need to learn how to not get distracted by phones while still having access to them.
Instead of banning phones completely, the administration and teachers must educate us on how we can healthily use phones.
Pretending phones don’t exist at school is not the answer to the rising mental health struggles of teenagers. The administration and teachers must teach us how to use phones to communicate with our peers in a way that won’t take away from real-life social interactions, how to use phones to capture special moments without depending on our Photos app as memories, and how to share updates with our peers without making others feel bad.
GDS administration, stop ignoring cell phones; educate us about why they can be harmful, and help us use them responsibly.