Nov. 12, 2024
By Nicolle Alvarez
Staff Writer
In an effort to improve student learning and mental health, New Jersey school districts including Cherry Hill, Middletown and Woodbury introduced cellphone bans at the start of this school year. Ramsey has implemented a cellphone ban as well, which will go into effect in January.
The bans require students to keep their cellphones in a locker or backpack and silence them during instructional time. Students can use their cellphones during extracurricular activities, lunch, passing time and recess unless instructed otherwise by an administrator. These district-wide bans are similar to the state bans in Florida, Indiana, Louisiana and South Carolina.
English teacher Mrs. Ruiz said she recognizes the distractions cellphones create in classrooms.
“Even if it is in your pocket, you are going to feel it vibrate. You’re going to pull it out and, for that brief moment, you are not where you should be,” Ruiz said
She said years ago, she introduced a cellphone pal, which is a phone caddy that is hung on the wall. Ruiz said she did this to prevent distraction.
“Not everybody was happy with me when I first started doing this, but you need to focus on what we are doing. I have always tried to stress to my students that you need English to graduate,” Ruiz said.
Sophomore Taylor Paglio said she supports school districts’ decisions to ban cellphones.
“It could help students focus on their education more, because, not just me, but multiple students [are] on their phones in class when teachers do not take [them],” Paglio said.
Even though she supports cellphone bans, Paglio said there should be exceptions.
“If you are done with your work, it should be okay to use your phone in class,” Paglio said.
She said cellphones can also negatively affect teenagers’ mental health by intensifying their insecurities.
“Even if it is in your pocket, you are going to feel it vibrate. You’re going to pull it out and, for that brief moment, you are not where you should be.”
“Teenagers specifically tend to want unrealistic lifestyles that they see on their phones and want to go through unrealistic lengths to achieve that life,” Paglio said.
Unlike Paglio, sophomore Aiden Nguyen opposes cellphone bans.
“The ban is too extreme and generalized. [Instead,] schools should help students with responsibility. Then, more students would be okay with not using their phone,” Nguyen said.
He said for reasons of safety, students should have access to their phones in school.
“If there is an emergency, you need to contact your parents. It should be okay to use your phone instead of not being able to at all,” Nguyen said.
Like Nguyen, junior Kory Jones said cellphone bans present a safety concern for students.
“In case of emergencies, it is important for the students to be able to contact their parents or contact anyone [they need to],” Jones said.
He said students learn discipline by keeping their cellphones with them in school.
“Discipline is about having control of your desires, and deciding what is relevant in the moment,” Jones said. “When we have our phones, it teaches us to control ourselves and use them at the right times, instead of us being forced to not have them at all.”
Business and technology teacher Mrs. Huntington said she adheres to the cellphone policy that appears in the student handbook.
“I give students the freedom to manage their cellphones by keeping them in their backpacks to prevent interruption to their learning,” Huntington said.
She said if a student has their cellphone on in class and it causes a distraction, she asks the student to place it on her desk and come after school to retrieve it.
“I believe [this protocol] is effective,” Huntington said. “Phones can be a useful device to manage your events, appointments, assignments, sports or as a study tool, but I do not think students are using their phones the majority of the time in a beneficial way.”
