As we go into the second semester of the school year, Millbrook High School is implementing a new phone policy!

  The new phone policy states that phones are not to be seen out or in use during the instructional period in the classroom; this includes all sorts of headphones and earbuds. This new policy has been implemented as many of the staff at Millbrook have noticed how much phones have taken over the classroom and they want to do something about it as they value the instructional time they get with their students.

  The new phone policy has brought a lot of different mixed opinions, feelings, and feedback with it from the students at Millbrook. The classroom was created to be a place where students learn and time spent in the classroom should be valuable not only to students, as they are filling and challenging their brains with new knowledge, but also to teachers because they hold the power and have the opportunity to teach, mold, and build future generations.

  According to students, young people don’t necessarily feel this is happening in the classroom today. Learning is not exciting to students anymore, and many report finding class time overwhelming and boring. Students and teachers alike are all burnt out and tired for many reasons, one of the main ones being the takeover of phones in class.

  Assistant principal of instruction Mr. Patton says, “At the end of the day, schools are tasked with building appropriate learning environments. With access to Chromebooks for all students, the need to utilize phones for learning has disappeared. This fact, in combination with the research behind what cell phones and social media are doing to developing brains, led us to draw a hard line about cell phone usage in class in order to ensure that classroom learning benefits from greater focus and engagement.”

  It’s no lie that we students use our phones a lot in class and always have our headphones/earbuds in, it’s also no lie that many teachers do this also. Humans as a whole have become extremely attached to their phones wherever they go. Chemistry and Forensic Science teacher Ms. Cline says, “I am looking forward to seeing what changes the new phone policy is going to bring to Millbrook! I have a feeling it will be highly beneficial for students as it will limit distractions and enhance their education!”  While a number of students go on their phones for the sole reason that they don’t want to do anything in class, many students don’t just go on their phones and put their headphones in for no reason. Many students go on their phones when there is nothing to do in class which is pretty fair as nobody wants to sit and do nothing for ninety minutes. Sophomore Tiffany Licud says, “In many of my classes, we do not do anything so I go on my phone. What else is there to do?”

  Many students go on their phones after the instructional period in their class has ended, or after they have finished all the work they need to complete with lots of time left in class. Sophomore Jaylin Halim says “It’s understandable not to be able to use our phones during instructional time but in reality in most classes, there is a lot of free time between the instructional time and the completion of our assignments or the instructional time in the classroom is short.”

  The phone policy has garnered many different opinions and they are all valid. There is no one right answer to approach the usage of phones in the classroom. As students of Millbrook High School, we need to understand and be mindful of this new policy. We should understand that we need to put our phones and headphones/earbuds away and in a safe place during the instructional time in class and give our teachers the same time, respect, effort, and attention that they give to us and their lesson plans.