The first bell rang, and my freedom was gone. Glenn Youngkin, our Virginia Governor, decided that cellphones, smart watches, and other home-owned electronic devices are not allowed in schools across the state. This continues his previous notion from last year, where we weren’t allowed to have cell phones during instructional time. At Liberty, this includes all 4 blocks and SOAR. This year is different due to the newly implemented rule, which prohibits students from using or being seen with their cellphones from the first bell until the last bell.

I can slightly understand not using cell phones in the classroom, but not being permitted to use them in between classes and at lunch is absolutely despicable. When it comes to lunch, I understand the prophecy of adults that diminishing the usage of phones will help people interact with one another, but some students have social anxiety. Some students also just need some peace and quiet during lunch or need a break from the harsh reality of returning to class. What if a student has a test when they return to class and wants to get in a quick study session? Instead of lugging a 20-pound backpack to lunch, which, quite frankly, is causing scoliosis, students could just easily slip their phones into their pockets to review before the big test. When it comes to in between classes, what is wrong with checking a few missed messages? Honestly, with not being able to use phones in class, a quick peek at a cellphone could simply be seen as our brain break for the day, unless Governer, Glenn Youngkin wants to give a government-issued recess to middle and high school students. To be honest,  I’m not completely opposed to that idea.

In this day and age, technology is getting stronger and stronger by the day. So if technology is going forward, why are we going back? However, I guess the only grades we are truly going back technology-wise in are middle and high schools. Many parents these days give birth to their children with an iPhone attached to them instead of an umbilical cord. This carries on into early education environments, where schools are having these young children learn letters and numbers on learning websites instead of from their teachers. But still, people wonder why literacy rates are dropping every year. Maybe if we gave students books instead of Chromebooks, students would be much more educated, and test rates would skyrocket, not plummet.   

To make matters worse, school systems are unintentionally contradicting the cell phone ban. Students aren’t allowed to use their own devices in school, but over half of the assignments we receive in class involve using the Chromebook. Chromebooks have just as much access to the internet as a cell phone. No matter how many sites the admin blocks, students almost always find a way around them to play games during class or do other uneducational things. There is absolutely no difference between playing a game on a school-issued Chromebook and playing a game on a cellphone. To go along with the limited access to many sites on the Chromebooks, many educational and beneficial sites are blocked as well. Students have to go through many links just to find one mediocre website to make a set of flashcards for their history test. If you take away cellphone privileges, then we should resort back to the good old paper and pencil, because at the end of the day, Chromebooks are no different than cell phones.

 Almost everyone in this time period is addicted to their cellphones, myself included; however, phones aren’t only distractions in educational settings. Cell phones distract people in work settings, relaxing settings, and so many other environments. Phones aren’t going away anytime soon— rather, at all, so why take away the distraction when we need to learn how to work through the distraction? Adults in the workplace have just as much of a hard time trying to circumvent using their cell phones as students in a classroom setting; however, you still see work getting done efficiently. But  no, cell phones are the reason for poor performance in the classroom. To be frank, I don’t think that the cellphone is the reason for poor performance in school at all. I think the reason for poor performance in school systems is any digital device students are expected to learn from in school environments. Before COVID-19, 90% of assignments were on paper and pencil; after COVID-19, the majority are on the computer. The usage of computers in pre-college education systems is really what has caused test scores to decrease; yet phones, the devices that school systems have allowed in the classroom for years, are the true problem. Another reason for bringing back paper and pencils is that less fortunate students can’t use their Chromebooks when they’re at home. Internet and wifi aren’t something that just exists in every home, meaning that some students can’t complete assignments on time or at all. Bringing back the usage of paper assignments will help provide an environment where all students have an equal opportunity to succeed. 

Another reason for limiting phone usage in schools is to improve mental health. Youngkin says that social media has caused a youth mental health crisis, as he referenced a source that highlights the fact that adolescents who spend over 3 hours a day on social media are more likely to experience poor mental health. I can see why Youngkin can think that this carries on to schooling environments, but I think that he forgets that from the hours of 3 pm-8 am, adolescents have 3 times the opportunity to use social media. If we are going to take away phones because they are a leading cause of poor mental health in adolescent ages, then we might as well take away school as a whole. Obviously, that is a stretch, and we cannot possibly take away school, but school, at least in middle and high schools, causes mental health to decrease tremendously. Whether it’s the stress of classes, sports, or even bullying, school is the common denominator, not cell phones. 

Overall, I think that expecting students to learn from Chromebooks when you are taking away our personal devices is utterly ridiculous. Cell phones and Chromebooks are both technological devices capable of the same duties, so why take away one just to hand us another? A good number of things we do in school and in life require the use of cell phones. So why not teach students how to use phones responsibly and respectfully? Schools shouldn’t just be used as places to educate students academically; they should also be used as a place to teach these adolescents how to live in the real world. At this rate, many young people aren’t going to know how to survive with the distraction of a cell phone in the real world. This cell phone ban doesn’t just affect current students; it will affect future young adults.