VOLUME 3
December 12, 2024
Phone Ban: Skyline Students and Staff Grapple With New Phone Policy Student Reactions More Diverse than Expected
Teachers Reveal Advantages and Disadvantages
by Kamryn Lindsey
T
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by Ainsley Vendola
he new phone policy has changed the environment of Skyline and teachers are noticing a difference.
ntering the 2024 school year, returning students expected to be met with the same rules as always. However, discussion during the Spring of 2023 regarding a new phone policy developed into a plan for the new system: banning student’s phones during class starting this fall.
The phone policy has made the lives of teachers significantly easier. Some teachers report that they feel less exhausted and frustrated by the end of the day from telling students to constantly put their phones away. “It also helps the teachers’ mental health because we don’t have to monitor phones as much anymore,” said Diane Sastre, Skyline AP Spanish teacher. ”Students are much more engaged in their classes and not on their screens.”
“It kind of felt out of the blue,” says Ainsley Vendola (‘25). “We didn’t really think it was going to happen or work.” Some teachers have done this for years, but the change is that all teachers are doing it now, more consistently. The new phone policy states that students, whenever they enter a class, must put their phones in a pouch given to every teacher at Skyline. All phones then must remain there until the end of the hour. Phones are only permitted in the halls during passing time and lunch.
Concern over students’ mental health was a key factor as to why the phone policy was implemented to begin with. In addition, over the last few years, teachers have noticed a decline in attention span, effort in class, and grades. They associated many of these declines with an increase in social media use. Some teachers have noticed that the grades of their students are now improving. The vast majority of Skyline teachers have reported significant changes in the learning and attention of Skyline students. Not only do teachers and students report better mental health, but grades are an improving result.
Parents were informed of this policy and are expected to call the office to reach their children. Students were also informed, as they were required to sign a waiver of agreement in order to take their picture at registration. Most students, especially those who have already had previous years at Skyline, were initially upset at this sudden change and felt strongly about phones being taken during class. “I feel like they rushed too fast into something so strict,” says Ryann Brooks (‘26). “It’s upsetting to not be able to use my phone during free time.”
“The phone policy can contribute to things like depression and anxiety and I’m not seeing that,” said Kristen Winter, the AP Psychology teacher at Skyline, “I’m actually seeing students interact with each other….I don’t believe I became some kind of super teacher overnight,” said Kristen Winter, “I had the highest scores on the first test this year that I have ever seen in the history of teaching.”
However, as this first trimester has gone by with this new policy, many students have changed their minds. As The Skyline Post has interviewed the student body, there has been a noticeable variety of opinions. Some students still feel as though taking their property during class is unnecessary, should not be allowed, and limits their communication home.
All classrooms can have different kinds of engagement depending on how the teacher wants to showcase it in their classroom. For example, science teacher Casey Warner lectures then leaves for student work. The students must be engaged in the lecture so they understand how to do their work after.
But just as many students The Post spoke with seem to feel as though the policy has limited distractions, helped them get their work done, and helped everyone succeed in class.
From noticing greater engagement in discussions, lectures, and group work, teachers have seen changes in overall social and learning connections in the classroom. “When we’re doing group discussions they’re more present in the moment, which I’ve also been seeing in the labs that we do,” said AP Biology teacher Gabriel Rettaliata. ”It’s important to be able to work with your group and communicate. Having that distraction or the temptation of distraction removed has definitely helped.”
“The new phone policy makes me focus because it’s limiting distraction during class,” says Britta Coultas (‘25). “It allows me to give my full attention to the teacher at all times.” While Coultas’s opinion would have been seen as controversial within the first few days of school, students have been adjusting well to the new change. “I personally like the new policy,” says Riley Howe (‘25). “I took AP Chem last year and had Mr. Jones… He didn’t allow us to have our phones out at all in class and for me that helped my learning of the subject a lot better.”
It’s important to be able to work with your group and “communicate. Having that distraction or the temptation of
Luke Zogaib (‘25) feels the same way: “I think it helps me focus in class more. I get a lot more work done.”
Gabriel Rettaliata, AP Biology teacher
distraction removed has definitely helped.
One remaining challenge the teachers face when giving students access to their phones is figuring out how to manage them, ensuring that students are on task and using them for educational purposes. There is some confusion within the student community about when a teacher thinks it’s appropriate to make exceptions to the phone policy. While students may not have their phones at all during classes, there are moments when they are needed for educational purposes only.
On the flip side, many students still feel strongly against it and express their frustration about administration believing it is the best way to support student focus. “It’s disrespectful to take our phones during class because it’s our property and they shouldn’t be allowed to do that,” says Dylan Lindsey (‘28), “I think a public school should not have the ability to take our phones from us because there’s time in class where we’re doing nothing and I’m still not allowed to have my phone. I just don’t understand why.”
“I have a couple of students who have asked if they can record my lectures…as long as they check in with me first and have the phone just lying flat on their desk it’s ok with me,” Warner says. “When we go outside, they need to use it to identify species and I also want them to use it even just as a timekeeping device.”
Students have also expressed concerns about limited communication home and the inability to talk to people you are not directly with such as parents and coaches. “I don’t like my phone being far away from me during class,” says Charlie Hazzi (‘25). “I like to have it by me in case of emergency or needing to contact my parents.”
A majority of teachers will make exceptions for QR codes if their lesson requires it. Games such as Kahoot or Quizlet are also frequently seen as exceptions to the policy.
Many students have strong opinions about how controlling the new policy is. “I think that if people aren’t paying attention that’s their own problem and we should be able to self manage,” says Elle Wong (‘25). “Personally I get the same amount of work done as I did last year. I don’t think it makes me more productive.”
“In general I don’t really see a lot of reason to be needing a cell phone in class,” says Rettaliata. “I speak from personal experience through school not having a smartphone, and I survived. I think present-day students are equally capable of survival.” There is not enough information yet to tell if the phone policy has impacted student grades.
Another Skyline senior, Anika Vaitkevicius (‘25) feels similarly: “I honestly feel like they should just not have the policy and it should be under our own self-control, because if we can’t learn to put our phones away and focus ourselves then how will we survive in college?” Sydney Harwick (‘25) is caught mid-call as math teacher Jeff Oleksinski, holding a growing stack of student phones, reminds her of Skyline’s no-phone policy. Credit: Payton Oleksinski
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