A new district-led bill, HB 2299, has been proposed to enforce a ban on phone use throughout the school day, effective next fall. Next year, students will be required to store away their personal devices and will be forbidden from using them throughout the day.
Some students utilize devices for health accommodations and safety reasons. Sophomore Ruby Fritzel said she had a medical emergency last year and is worried about how students will be able to contact trusted adults in case of an emergency.
Spanish teacher Paul Rosen said he can see how some students might run into issues with communication with this bill. However, he said that he has seen the impact devices have made on students’ comprehension compared to deviceless learning environments.
“A lot of kids are not following the rules … It would be nice if we didn’t need the law to support this, but the intentions are good,” Rosen said.
Incoming Free State student and current eighth-grade student at West Middle School, Eva Domenella, said the bill could help students grow academically. However, she also said that she does not think it will fix the usage of phones during school hours.
“I get things were different for older generations. But we grew up taught that we needed our phones with us and I really don’t think this will make a change,” Domenella said.
Furthermore, Fritzel said she finds it pointless to restrict the use of phones in the hallway and during open lunch. Fritzel said that the current phone policy, where students are only restricted from using their phones in class, is effective.
“Because we have open lunch, that would be very hard to enforce, and it’s kind of pointless having no phones at lunch and even during passing period,” Fritzel said.
When Domenella heard about the new phone ban, she said she was disappointed because she and her classmates were looking forward to the phone usage changes when entering high school. In addition, Domenella said she thinks students are just going to retaliate.
“When teachers are getting you prepped for high school, they speak about you having more responsibilities and being more grown up,” Domenella said. “I feel like this takes away from that.”
