With the continuous developments of technology, social media, and videogames, it has become harder than ever for students to resist the temptation to use their phones. There are growing concerns over what this does to students’ education, which creates the question of whether or not students’ overall performance in school would be improved with a uniform strict county policy.

The personal mobile device (PMD) policy at this school states that students must have all non-school issued devices out of sight in either their backpacks or classroom holder. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that students are not distracted by their devices, therefore theoretically improving their productivity and performance. The discussion on whether a stricter policy would be more effective is increasingly being brought up, which is why a complete county wide ban of phones has been suggested and has brought controversy.

Students at this school say they feel that teachers and administration have been successful in keeping phones out of students’ reach. While students are prohibited from using their PMD’s in the classroom, they are still able to use them in between classes and during advisory and lunch. “I like being able to use my phone during lunch with my friends because it gives me time to relax by either scrolling while eating or playing a game with my friends,” senior Manny Perez said.

Other schools like Quince Orchard have a similar policy. QO junior Taylor Carmi said, “This year my school has become more strict on the use of phones in classrooms, but it really just depends on the teacher. In some classes I have to put my phone up in phone pockets, whereas in my other classes my teachers let me use my phone.”

Carmi has noticed how the use of phones in schools has interfered with students’ learning and is amongst those who believe that a ban of phones in schools would eliminate this distraction. She said that from what she has witnessed at her school, banning phones would, “improve students’ performance because it gets rid of major distractions. It allows students to be able to put their focus only on their teachers, which would improve their performance.”

Private schools are ahead of the game when it comes to banning phones in the classroom. At Good Counsel, “There is a no-phone policy. During school hours students are not allowed to have their phones out and if they are caught using them they will get detention, but there are times when a teacher will give you permission to to take it out for a specific reason if you ask them,” Good Counsel junior Kira Georgelakos said.

Although this has been thought to work well when it comes to improving the focus of the students, there are still issues that a complete phone ban brings. For example, Georgelakos said she is not allowed to use her phone to contact her parents, which has made her frustrated during the times where she needed to talk to them. For these reasons, B-CC junior Charlotte Whatley said, “I think that fully banning phones all at school is not OK because students have phones at use fast for a number of reasons, including in case of emergency, safety, and I think that phones shouldn’t be unable to use if the student has completed the work done for their class.”

The reason why the idea of a school-wide phone ban seems efficient is because schools, including this one, have different phone policies in different classes. On the other hand, whether it is for emergencies, freedom to use their device during free times or other reasons, students may want the ability to use their phones during non-instructional portions of the school day. “I think that B-CC’s phone policy should be more consistent in each class. This doesn’t mean a drastic approach (banning phones), but if each teacher abides by the same rules, it’ll be easier to control reliance on students’ phones,” Whatley said.