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At first, lawmakers in New Hampshire thought each school district should make its own rules regarding phone usage, but they later decided the state should make one rule that applies to everyone. This ban is a bell-to-bell ban, so for North, it's from 7:20 am to 2:03 pm. Other states have the same law, such as popular states like New York and Texas, which also require phones to be put into a Yondr pouch. There are numerous concerns that students, parents, and teachers have about these restrictions. But there are also pros to these restrictions as well.
Most people want to focus on the cons, but let’s start with the pros first. Many teachers who were interviewed last year agreed that phones can be useful tools by being used as a dictionary or a calculator. North’s principal Nathan Burns agrees, “A phone can be a very powerful tool to gather information, use as a calculator; certain apps are useful for classes, etc. However, the temptation to use them to scroll through TikTok or Instagram or Snapchat is very high.” I myself, still occasionally find myself reaching for my phone to look up a word. A few students have voiced their opinions for the pros, such as current junior Ella Wharton., “I guess I see more people engaged in class,” she conceded. This was a goal for the phone ban. Mr. Burns also says, “I see more students engaged in the learning process and haven’t seen any students on their phones in the classes that I have popped into so far.”
There are numerous flaws to this ban, though, which many students are voicing their opinions on. Some of these concerns that students have brought up are safety concerns. Last year, Ella said, “What if there’s a school shooting and you can’t text your parents because of the phone ban?” Other students also agreed with her, such as Kathleen Schreiner and Victoria Ellspermann, who raised a common concern, “Yeah, honestly, we all found out what was going on with the bullet because of our phones,” she said (regarding an incident during her freshman year). Another student, Katerina Capriotti, made the comparison of a phone ban to having strict parents: “When people have strict parents, kids are more likely to be more sneaky about it and break the rules.” Numerous people are still using their phones. Ella says, “There’s still a good amount of people who use it [their phones] under desks and hide it [phones] behind Chromebooks.” Plenty of students also dislike not being able to listen to their music during class because it helps them focus, including myself.
There are also non-academic periods during the day at North, such as E-block and lunch. Anagha Aravind says, “It makes sense to not be able to use them [phones] in the classroom, but being unable to use them [phones] during recreational periods like E-block and lunch is a bit much.” Other students agree with Anagha, including Sophie Roy, who said, “Overall, the rule is a bit too strict for a high school, and in my general opinion, the phone ban is acceptable; however, there should be certain times you're allowed to use it,”.
Overall, most people only focus on the cons of this phone ban. This ban was put in place with concern for today's students regarding their cellphone use, but it does seem that the majority of students agree that the ban is too strict. A good deal of students at North, and plenty of other students online, agree that they think “It's annoying,”(Kathleen Schreiner) or in some cases even a safety concern.
