Better Tone with No Phone?

The Glendale Union High School District put into place a district wide cell phone ban. Here at Greenway, initially it was a big change, but many are seeing benefits from the policy.

Teachers are now having to enforce this policy and it can vary between classrooms. Some teachers just allow you to keep it in your backpack, while some make their students put their cell phones in a cell phone holder. Teachers were asked what they do in their classrooms to enforce it and their opinions on the policy. Here is what they said:

Mr. Mrozinski, math teacher, makes his students trade their phones for an assigned calculator. He believes that removing phones creates a more lively classroom.

“…everyone seems to be handling it well. I really haven’t had any pushback”. “I like hearing the chatter of students talking about whatever random things instead of silently doom-scrolling”, said Mr. Mrozinski.

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Ms. Cannaday, English teacher, has made it apparent to her students that it is against the law for her to see the phones. In her classes, her students have been good about having their phones away and making sure their chrome books are charged. One of the drawbacks that she has seen is that the removal of phones prevents students from using their devices for organizational purposes such as checklists.

“I enforce it with an iron fist”. “However, there are advantages and disadvantages to almost any change in policy”, said Ms. Cannaday.

Generally, teachers believe that this policy is very beneficial to students and their learning environment. Although there are some noticeable drawbacks, the positive changes that come with the policy are more important than the constant habits some have to just pull out their cell phones any free chance they get in class.

The perspective of Greenway students is also just as important. For the longest time cell phones have been affecting their learning environments in a positively and negatively way on a daily basis. Phones can be used by students in productive ways that do help them in the classroom, but with this change it is a question on how students are dealing with it.

Chelsea Brand, senior at Greenway, says that her school days are not really affected heavily because even if she wanted to use her phone, due to her being in AP classes, she has no time to.

“I don’t really care about the phone ban because I can use it at lunch, so it doesn’t matter”. “I think AP classes will get more lenient because the kids still care about their grades anyways”. said Chelsea.

Madelyn Banister, senior at Greenway, believes that the cell phone ban is an “inherently good thing”, but can be challenging when it comes to free time in class when you would usually take out your cell phone. She also thinks that it is something that will stay in place and could even spread to other districts if there are noticeable and positive changes in the behavior of students.

“This policy has been affecting my school days in a bad way. Not because of the phone ban itself, but the force that the school and teachers have had to use to make sure kids are complying with the law.”

All in all, most of the students at Greenway seem to be accepting of the policy because of how it will ultimately benefit them at school. Cell phones generally can become distractions to students in the classroom, so an important benefit is being able to see more productivity within students.