When news broke out about the new cell phone policy, I thought that the policy wouldn’t work because of the lack of arrangements made to enforce the policy. I believe that the application of the cell phone policy outside of the classroom is not necessary and may not solve the problems that the cell phone policy targets.
In a 5-2 vote, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education decided to prohibit phone use on school grounds to help students beat social media addiction and regain our focus on their studies. With the implementation of the phone ban, many students, including myself, have wondered how this will affect our school life in the classroom. The ban directly affects the way that I carry out my role as a journalist. Without the use of cell phones, I am unable to communicate with my staff members and record interviews that may be useful to the publications. However, the cell phone policy doesn’t only affect those in the publications.
Many parents and students have had an issue with the policy, stating that it impedes their ability to contact one another directly in an event of emergency or disaster. Parents have worried that if the policy is implemented, students won’t be able to update their parents during the situation. Other than that, the phone ban policy may impede the academic abilities of students. Since the pandemic, schools have been more reliant on technology like laptops. Often, students like myself use their cell phones as a last resort when either their laptops are dead or otherwise unavailable. Cellular devices may disrupt focus during class but with proper supervision, they can help as a resource in the classroom.
Other than the multiple problems that the ban would create, another problem that arises is the way the phone ban will be implemented. As of right now, there is no official plan of enforcement. However it is theorized that schools will have electronic pouches for each student’s device. Due to that, I believe that if the phone ban should be implemented then the policy must be more specific in how the ban will be enforced before it can be imposed.
The implementation of the cell phone ban may cause more problems than it seeks to solve. Ultimately, the cell phone ban will prohibit necessary communication with others, impede academic activities needing technology and will not solve the problems that prompted the creation of the ban in the first place.
