While phones, laptops and other technologies are ingrained into our day-to-day lives, students and teachers alike believe their constant presence can disrupt social interactions, schoolwork and attention span. Northwest Academy administrators have decided to rework the school’s phone policy in response to these disturbances.
“There [are] times where we’re all together during lunch and on our phones,” said Cati Gonzales, a junior. “It’s weird when I look up from my phone and see that none of us are actually interacting. I’m able to put my phone away when necessary but I find that in my free time I’m primarily on my phone consuming content that I won’t even remember after five scrolls.”
Many students similarly experience being pulled away from social interactions during lunch, partially because phones are so easy to access. The constant presence of cellular devices allows students to watch videos, text their friends and freely browse the web.
“Technology has a certain addictive draw to it,” said Kodi Young, a junior. “The mind is becoming used to overstimulation. People I know who use technology too much seem to act differently and resort to technology even in social situations. With addictive algorithms, it’s hard to read books or do anything requiring a certain capacity of prolonged attention.”
This year though, the school has cracked down on phone use. Students are no longer allowed to have their devices out in class.
The school has provided teachers with hanging cubbies to deposit phones, commonly referred to as “phone jails.” Teachers can choose to use these cubbies at their own discretion, as long as they make sure that phones are not out during class.
This change was instituted by Joanne Kim, former Head of High School, as a response to what many faculty saw as an overuse of phones in class. When the stricter enforcement of the phone policy was put in place, it garnered support from many teachers.
“Over the course of last school year, we collectively observed, quite clearly, that phones were becoming a distraction in different ways throughout the classroom,” said Bobby Elliott, the freshman humanities teacher.
Students being on their phones in class and distracting themselves and others from schoolwork, was the main motivator to enforce this policy.
“Students were using their phones a lot in class and were missing very important information,” said Julia Cain, director of college counseling. “Students were leaving class with their phones. When you are in class you have to be in class. Stop checking social media or texting friends. The [old] policy was [students] shouldn’t be on [their] phone, but [the new policy] kicked in when people were just disregarding that.”
Elliott believes that putting a proactive policy in place benefits the students.
“[One of the] reasons [we enforce the phone policy] is the widely reported national trend for schools to be wrestling with these questions, so we wanted to be proactive and responsive to that,” said Elliott.
Wren Alger, a junior, largely agrees with Cain but believes that overuse was not a huge issue and the response by the administration “seems extreme.”
“I think [phone] overuse is an issue and I think the policy is fine,” said Alger. “I think [problems with phones] depended on the class, largely, but I don’t think there was an issue to the point of chaos breaking out.”
Many students feel that technology in general has begun to take over their lives, saying that too much of their time is spent on their phones.
“I’m on my phone way more than I want to be,” said Levi Deck, a sophomore. “Usually I get distracted and I know I should be doing something else but it’s hard to get myself to do anything. It’s often just because my phone is so easy to use.”
For many, the distraction has become normal and is taking over lunch time, study hall as well as personal time. Even when surrounded by friends, many instead choose to be on their phones or computers.
“It sometimes feels like a social norm to be on your phone when you’re with friends,” said Raya Codrescu, a sophomore. “[There are] definitely times when I’m with friends and we’re just like scrolling next to each other, sometimes for an hour.”
The effects of this entrenchment in technology can manifest as a general loss of human connection and relationships for many students.
“I think that when people are on their phones they’re just so disconnected [from real life] and connected to the internet [instead],” said Arwyn Stech, a junior. “It’s really annoying because I feel like nobody really enjoys or lives their life anymore in the outside world and we’re just sucked into our phones.”
It feels to some as if a natural desire for conversation is overridden by the immediate dopamine triggered by short, fast-paced content online. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are largely popular because of this form of content.
The appeal of fast dopamine hits also leads many students feeling a need to immediately respond to notifications on their phone.
“I hate when people text me and I feel like I need to text them back immediately,” said Cecily Davis, a freshman. “I feel like that’s the main distraction for me. I’ll see [a message] and then forget about it so I feel like I have to respond right away.”
Davis, along with others, think that a broader issue lies with children’s’ attention spans. According to the National Institute of Health, “the [studied students] ability to control their attention might be impaired by short-form video addiction,” as found on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Some students think that social media has affected their attention span to the point that they now rely on their phone.
“I’m on my phone the majority of the day that I’m not at school,” said Codrescu. “My attention span is so short. It’s really easy for me to just get bored with something and then think ‘oh, I could just scroll on TikTok right now!’ or something like that.”
Some students apply strategies to distance themselves from their phones. Such as small rewards for not picking up their phones while doing homework.
“I have to do reward-based things,” said Asher Fritts-Weeks, a junior. “I have to read a page or two of Carl Jung and then I can be on my phone for like 10 minutes.”
Fritts-Weeks is not the only student who employs a reward system.
“I try to only let myself [be on my phone] after I’ve been productive or active and only after I’ve done my homework,” said Gus Hardman, a senior. “That’s been a good strategy for me because it dissuades me from disrupting my work and also gives me an incentive to do my work.”
Some students will use more extreme methods to distance themselves from devices, such as making them less appealing to use. Young recently changed his phone display to black and white to dissuade him from using it.
“At first it was really unbearable,” he said. “ But now it just makes it so that my dopamine receptors aren’t capping out the wazoo whenever I open my phone. It doesn’t restrict the usage of certain apps, it just makes it less appealing.”
The school administration hopes that eliminating the inconsistency in cell phone policies between classes, and instead having a uniform policy across the whole institution will mitigate distractions in the classroom. The policy may have an additional effect of alleviating some of the reliance students say they have on technology.
“[The phone policy] is not there to make [students’] lives sad or angry,” said Cain. “It’s here to make you more present and in the moment.”
Reporting by Jonas Honeyman-Colvin and Elliot Strom
