When 42 parents of incoming freshmen petitioned GDS to restrict phone use on campus this year, they framed it as a necessary step to improve students’ mental health and academic focus. Months later, the resulting phone ban—enforced during school hours from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.—has drawn mixed reactions from parents, with many praising its impact and others raising concerns about logistical challenges.
A group of freshman parents sent the petition to Head of School Russell Shaw and High School Principal Yom Fox in June, citing research that showed the negative effects of phone use on teens. Shaw also explained the reasoning for GDS’ ban in an article for The Atlantic, where he referenced sources correlating rises in teen anxiety, depression and suicide to the spread of smart phones.
Work on the phone ban began in 2018. At the time, Director of Student Community Programming Bobby Asher introduced Phone-Free Friday, a day when students turned in their phones, and in exchange, the grade with the most phones turned in could have a pizza party. “I’ve been doing this to show people that it feels better to not have your phone in school,” Asher said.
Four months into the school year, with the ban in full effect, the Bit followed up with parents to see what their opinions are.
Carin Levine, who is a parent of two high schoolers, said the parents wanted to notify the school of their support for the prohibition of phone use during school hours. Levine was one of the parents who wrote to the administration in the petition.
Athletic Director and parent of a junior Mike Brooks said he noticed students working well with each other under the new phone ban. “They don’t really look for complaints, they look for solutions to problems.”
GDS parent May Ng said she agreed with the phone ban because phone use affects academics, mental health and everyday life. “I think there already is, in society, this tendency to be distracted by phones,” Ng said. “I see people checking their phones at restaurants, at work, in meetings and it’s accepted. I’m not sure it should be.”
To Levine, the phone ban will create better connections between students over time. “The sense of community that can come out of not having a phone may be worth some of the inconveniences students may be feeling,” she said.
“I think kids just got so comfortable with being able to access their friends, sort of that instant gratification with texting,” Kara McCabe, who is a parent to three high schoolers, said.
Asher said that he has met with GDS parents to discuss their opinions about the phone ban. “When I would initially have those meetings, I got more pushback than support,” he said. He said parents want their kids to keep their phones so they can communicate with them.
GDS parent Sarah Manes said she supports the phone ban but felt it could apply differently to students of different ages because older students are more independent and rely on their phones more for communication. “Maybe it’s possible to reduce phone use, but take into account where kids are developmentally and socially,” she said.
For Manes, communication remains a concern, adding that phones are helpful to students when planning doctors appointments and communicating with their parents. “It’s weird to hear from an eighteen-year-old from a school nurse,” Manes said.
GDS Parent Kendra Brown said that lack of communication forces her family to make plans ahead of time as opposed to making them in the moment.
Manes hopes to shift discussions about the phone ban towards solutions for day-to-day problems. She said that people in the community should be “trying to get away from the emotional side of this and getting them to think practically about solutions,” Manes said. “Everyone needs to move forward in alignment.”
Brooks said he appreciates that the administration has been transparent about why the ban was put into place. “If a student doesn’t understand the reason, rationale, for the ban, there are adults who can explain it to them,” he said.
CLARIFICATION (Jan. 7, 2025 at 4:13 p.m.): This article has been clarified to fully represent Sarah Manes’ support for the phone ban.