Cell phones are becoming more common in students’ lives, and their use during lunch and release periods is not currently a problem.
It is reasonable for students to keep their phones in their backpacks or pockets during class, as long as they are not a distraction. Why change that now?
Mesa County Valley School District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill spoke about Colorado’s new statewide effort to create a “more social, less media” environment in schools across the valley. I agree with the goal of encouraging more social interaction, as I have seen students talking less and becoming more distracted when they always have a cell phone at hand. However, banning phones during lunch and passing periods seems excessive.
A new cell phone policy that enforces “no phones from 8:00 a.m. to 3:15/1:15 p.m.” is not the solution I imagined for addressing phone-related distractions. The district’s chosen time frame is overly restrictive and does not prevent students from finding other ways to use their phones. Passing periods and lunch are not part of instructional time, so phones are not disrupting learning then. Instead, teachers could have more consistently enforced the previous phone caddy rules supported by the generous donor who provided them to Grand Junction High School.
ELA teacher Carla King has been at GJHS for 14 years, teaching students from freshman to junior year. She has experience with both phone caddies and allowing phones in backpacks. She said teaching was easier when phones were less accessible because there were fewer distractions, and the caddies created helpful distance between students and their devices. Now that phones are allowed in backpacks, Ms. King has seen more distracted students and even some who argue with her about their phones. She also has concerns about whether administrators and teachers will be expected to follow the same rules during lunch and passing periods.
One question students are considering is whether teachers and administrators will have to follow the same bell-to-bell phone rules. If students are not allowed to be “distracted” or “side-tracked” during lunch and passing periods, then teachers and school leaders should be expected to follow that same standard.
Teachers may end up spending their lunch breaks and planning periods making sure students are not using their phones in the hallways during lunch and the few minutes between classes. That seems like an unnecessary use of teachers’ time. As far as I know, no teacher is instructing me during the passing period, so I should be allowed to use my phone if needed. If there is a family emergency or if I need to communicate with friends or clubs, I should have access to my phone so I know what is going on.
In the end, the issue is not whether phones belong in classrooms during lessons. The real question is whether students should lose access to them even when class is not in session. Lunch and passing periods are not times when learning is being interrupted, so a bell-to-bell restriction feels unnecessary and unfair. A better policy would require phones to be put away during class while trusting students to use them responsibly during non-instructional time.
Editor’s Note: Brynn Lents is a GJHS junior currently enrolled in a Reporting class.
