Two months into U-High’s new phone policy, many students say they are seeing more interactions among their peers and focusing better in class while others miss the convenience of messaging and easy access to phones.
What began as a major shift at the start of the year has now become an everyday routine. Both students and teachers have noticed how it’s changing the school’s dynamic. Dean of Students Ana Campos said that she has been encouraged by how the policy has reshaped school life. She explained that initial skepticism from students has given way to surprising support.
“I think that it’s going better than some members of our community thought it would,” Ms. Campos said. “I’ve been really pleasantly surprised from seniors in particular who have said that they actually think it’s a really good policy for the school and that they’re getting more work done. One of them said, ‘I think this is the best thing to ever happen to the high school.’”
Ms. Campos re-emphasized that the policy was never meant to take convenience away from students but to help them be more present.
“This is about trying to encourage focus and concentration in school and connection with other people, and certainly in the hallways, it looks like people are talking more and interacting more,” she said.
The sense of unexpected benefit that seniors have felt has carried over to students in younger grades. Sophomore Liam Evans said his initial reaction was concern about how losing phone access might affect his school routine.
“I used my phone during school last year to listen to music and to submit my math homework,” Liam said. “I was a little worried that it was really gonna affect my experience in school, but it didn’t really that much.”
Senior Henry Lyon previously relied on his phone to do homework, so the adjustment was difficult, he said. Henry said his opinion had changed after a few weeks, though he still finds some parts of the policy extreme.
“I’m not that upset about it anymore. I think it has done a pretty good job for people to kind of bond more socially,” he said. “I still think some aspects of it, like banning it during free periods and banning it during passing periods, especially, is overkill.”
Despite their different experiences, both Henry and Liam have noticed an increase in conversations among students as Ms. Campos described. While Henry believes phones should be allowed during free periods, Aariz Omar, a sophomore, said he’s noticed a positive change in focus and productivity.
“I think I was more productive in study hall, and I feel like during my classes I’m a little bit more focused,” Aariz said.
Math teacher Carrie Prystalski thinks the biggest benefits may not be visible to teachers but are felt by students in the way they focus in class. She added that enforcing the rule has been easier than expected.
“I thought that the students would be extremely unhappy about it. And maybe they are, but nobody spends any time complaining to me about it,” Ms. Prystalski said. “I just thought it would be a big thing. And from a teacher standpoint, it really hasn’t been.”
Not everyone agrees that the trade-off is perfect, especially among ninth graders who have never experienced high school with phones. Ninth grader Benett Chapman said he understands the purpose for the policy but believes it overlooks some of the educational benefits phones can offer.
“ I think the phone policy is fine,” he said, “but I feel like my phone can be like a useful tool if it’s used properly, and I feel like this school is kind of like forgetting about that.”
Ms. Campos said she’s optimistic about seeing how students and the phone policy will continue to evolve.
For now, the phones may be out of sight, but the effects of putting them away are easy to see in the lively hallways and face-to-face conversations among students.
