After a year under the U-High phone policy, students and faculty reflect on their changing perspectives and share potential improvements for the upcoming year.

“At the beginning of the year it didn’t really matter so much, but now that I’ve gone through the year, I’ve noticed that it’s kind of strange that we’re allowed to use it in the cafeteria but not outside of it.”

— Sasha Kravtsov, ninth grader

“They have not changed. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I still think it’s a good idea. I was happy to see that students were compliant with the policy for the most part.”

— Jim Catlett, science teacher

“[Phones] should be allowed to use during free periods because no one’s actually socializing during free periods, they’re either playing video games — which is the same as being on their phone — or they’re doing homework, in which case they wouldn’t be socializing.”

— Paul Saunders, ninth grader

“As a ninth grader, I’ve never really known any other way, but I feel like it has been really positive to just see people interacting with each other in the hallways, interacting with each other during lunch, if you’re not in the cafeteria.
So that’s been a positive change, I think.”

— Kate Notowidigdo, ninth grader

“At lunch it really makes sense to be able to use it, but I do feel like during lab periods it’s also free time, and so that would be nice.”

— Sara Chong, ninth grader

“I thought it was gonna be really annoying not being able to use my phone at all throughout the day, but I feel like the policy doesn’t really get enforced that much, so whether I have my phone or don’t, it doesn’t really matter.”

— Thomas Housinger, junior

“You should definitely have your phone during lab periods, because there are sometimes where you definitely do need your phone and then you can get it confiscated if you have it out during the lab period. And that’s literally your free time, so I feel like that just doesn’t make sense to me.”

— Gabriel Lockhart, junior

“Now I’m still kind of like, sometimes I wish I had my phone, especially during passing periods and stuff. Or like when I’m trying to find out where I should eat lunch with my friends or going to go during a free period. But honestly, I’m fine with it now.”

— Zora Peek Taylor, junior

“Initially, I was convinced that removing our phones could sort of invoke a sense of community. But now I’ve kind of realized that actually removing the phones has kind of done the opposite. Like, people have to go to Plein Air or something during the lab periods if they want to use the phone instead of staying here. So I think I’ve kind of been less convinced of the effectiveness of it working to bring the community closer.”

— Saanika Dutta, junior

“I originally thought that the phone policy was going to suck since nobody would be able to have their phone and everybody would get their phone taken, but now I feel like not a lot of teachers are taking phones and people walk around with their phones out and don’t get caught, and I don’t think the phone policy is doing too much.”

— Ari Wong, sophomore

“I think it should be allowed in lab periods and during lunch. I think most teachers are pretty chill with that, but there are some who like to take your phone and will just take it whenever they see it, which I think is stupid.”

— Paige Mattiello, sophomore