For the past few years, Friends students haven’t been able to use their phones in school. The rules are to keep them in your locker, they shouldn’t be on the student or seen at all between the hours of 8 am and 3 pm. But what are the real advantages or disadvantages of students having phones in school?

Friends students in recent years have grown up in a very technology-heavy society. Everyone has a phone and is “glued to it,” as some adults like to say. Also, growing up in the era of COVID-19 left students very computer dependent too. But after COVID, the rule was made that students weren’t allowed to have phones with them in school at all. Being found with a phone is supposed to lead to a warning. Many students feel that they should be allowed to have phones on them in school even if they are not using them. If there is an emergency in school, students want to be able to contact their parents. Also, they want to have it in case they have to evacuate the school. Hundreds of students losing their phones in the case of a fire would not be a pleasant experience. Another advantage of having phones is that many classes, such as art, use phones to take pictures of projects and assignments. 

There are many ways that students’ phones and technology can be used productively and responsibly during the school day, but there are also ways that phones can be used disruptively. A concern is that if students have their phones on them, they can feel pressured to keep up with social media, which will distract them from engaging in the classroom. Students also tend to leave class to check their phones or even check them in class when allowed to have their phones with them. Head of Upper School Rebecca Zug pointed out that these distractions can also be found on computers; however, teachers limit computer use in class to help students stay present and engaged. Phone notifications are also very distracting, especially when a phone goes off in situations such as Meeting For Worship. There are also some positives to not having phones, although students might not see them. As the Dean of Students, Ms. Miller, said, “There is more eye contact.”  Phones overall can be a distraction in the school setting at times which is a primary reason for why they are discouraged.