When Megan, a 16-year-old high school junior in Ohio, walks into school in the morning, she has to put her phone away until the end of the day. She isn’t allowed to take it out while she’s walking to another class or during her lunch period or during any free time. If she gets caught with her phone out, she says it will be taken away. If a student repeatedly gets caught with their phone, Megan says they face stricter consequences like in-school suspension, typical suspension, or even expulsion.
In an effort to control student cell phone usage during school hours and class time, this school year brought a wave of new rules and even laws regarding cell phones in school. At least eight states have passed laws aimed at curtailing phone use in school this year, and other districts and teachers are setting down their own phone bans or limits. With these efforts, schools apparently hope to limit distractions and bullying and bolster learning, but students, of course, aren’t thrilled with the new rules.
On TikTok, students are making content to address their irritation with the new phone bans. One creator made a video of herself over audio of Khloe Kardashian saying “today I’m going to jail” with a text overlay that reads, “Me because I have to go to school and they have banned phones.” Another wondered how administrators are able to ban her phone when they aren’t the ones paying her cell phone bill. A senior posted a video of the camcorder she’s bringing to school to document her senior year in place of the phone she would usually use to take photos and videos. While some simply want access to their device during school hours, others brought up safety concerns that are a stark reminder of reality for students today.
The new rules in Megan’s high school are in accordance with an Ohio law that dictates “every district develops a written policy aimed at minimizing phone use during school hours,” according to the Ohio Capital Journal. In some classes, Megan is only required to have her phone put away in her backpack. In other classes, at the discretion of the teacher, Megan and her peers have to hand their phones in to the teacher at the beginning of class. On one hand, Megan understands the new policy – and even believes it’s helping her stay more focused while in class. But she doesn’t understand why she can’t use her phone during lunch. She struggles with social anxiety and has a lunch period without any of her friends. “I would usually get on my phone and just mind my own business and eat my lunch,” she says. “But now I’m just sitting alone and staring at a wall.” Though, she says, the limit on phone usage is helping her “learn how to talk to other people” instead of relying on her phone for company. She also misses her phone for academic reasons, like being able to take a picture of the notes a teacher is showing.
And after the recent school shooting in Georgia that left two teachers and two students dead, Megan worries about not having her phone on her if tragedy strikes her school. “I was really afraid that something like that would happen to me and I wouldn’t have my phone to text anybody about it,” she says. “If I texted them [to] help or if I had to text my last words to my parents, saying I love you and everything, if anything were to happen.”
In New York, Mazzy, a 17-year-old senior, worries about the same thing. If an active shooter were to target her high school, she wants to be able to say something to her parents. “I just want to – this sounds horrible – tell them my last possible words to them,” she says. “[Like] ‘I just want to let you know I love you,' and stuff like that.” Mazzy’s school has changed their phone policy, too. Last year, she would keep her phone on the edge of her desk and “take a quick look” if a text came in, but this year, phones aren’t allowed out at all and other smart devices like Apple Watches are also banned. Mazzy, whose dad has medical problems, worries that something will happen during class and she won’t know in time. “I’m just diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and have a feeling that something bad could happen at any moment,” she says. “And if something bad is happening, I would want to know right then and there.” Though the new phone policy is meant to curtail distractions, Mazzy says it adds to them as she worries about what she might possibly be missing while not looking at her phone.
Jack Turban, MD, a pediatric psychiatrist at the University of California San Francisco, says the relationship between screen time and mental health isn’t simple. While some screen time (like watching TikToks during class) can be detrimental, others can be beneficial, like using mental health apps to do timed breathing exercises. Despite that, Turban understands the need for limitations. “I suspect that for most kids, banning phones in schools will have a positive impact,” Turban says because it will help curtail distractions for students.
While Megan does understand the motivation in taking away students’ phones during the school day, she says she’s not sure it’s really changed anything at her school.
“Fights are still happening, there's still drama and stuff like that,” she says. “Kids are still going to be distracted either way because they're going to find a way to get on their phones.”
