Have you ever wondered how you or your student would transition from a complete ban on cell phones to the freedom of getting phones out whenever and there being no outside consequences? Many parents, in particular, are worried that students are leaving middle and high school without the skills and knowledge to use technology responsibly and are afraid they will struggle in the real world. Schools need to change cell phone policies to ensure students leave schools with the toolset they need to be successful adults.

To begin with, students need to learn and know how to utilize skills on limiting screen time and being responsible with technology overall. According to Matthew Delaney, chief schools officer of Virginia Beach, “There has to be some personal responsibility on the individuals that come to our schools to follow the rules” (St. George 2023). Putting rules in place that require students’ efforts and responsibility to follow them is an effective way to teach students cell phone skills. Learning technology skills is essential because technology is a massive part of every student’s future.

If healthy practices and habits with cell phones are not taught from the beginning, students may develop problems like addiction and being reliant on their cell phones. “Some have come to see social media--accessed via students’ phones--as a major contributor to poor mental health,” the author states in the article “Students Can’t Get off Their Phones. Schools Have Had Enough” (St. George 2023) by Donna St. George. Phones can affect someone’s mental health, especially teens whose brains are still developing if devices are not used safely and correctly. Students need to be taught how Students must have the foundation of a healthy relationship with their phones while they have people to teach them how. Offering tools to students on what healthy phone behavior looks like can include screen time monitoring, setting limits to specific apps, appropriate timing of device usage throughout the school day, and proper cell phone etiquette. 

Not only this, but many students, teachers, and school staff do not recognize that cell phones are not just a negative. Technology can be used as a tool for students in the classroom. According to St. George in the “Incorporating Cell Phones into the Classroom,” “Teacher-directed use of smartphones in the classroom can help students learn to manage ever-present technology and use it constructively. Many of the basic features on cellular phones—such as calendars, alarms, text messaging, and email—have educational uses that can positively impact student engagement when employed in a classroom setting” (Incorporating Smart Phones 2023).  Students and teachers can use cell phones to enhance learning, and in many cases, this fact is being ignored because students do not know how to use cell phones responsibly. By teaching students how to use technology in the classroom, students can take advantage of cell phones to aid education and learning. Setting students up with direct tasks when using their cell phones can help students manage technology while at school while being productive and learning skills they will use for the rest of their lives. For example, a teacher may give the class a specific way to utilize their phones as a tool that relates to the topic they are learning about, like using the camera to scan QR codes for a scavenger hunt around the school. 

However, not everyone agrees that the positives outweigh the negatives of using cell phones in schools. “People peering into phones ‘lose all awareness of what is going on around them,’ … said Jaclyn Schildkraut, a researcher on school and mass shootings and executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in New York,” (St. George). During a disaster like a school shooting, phones can become a safety issue that many parents are worried about. Even though the odds of a school shooting happening are very low, it is still a possibility; schools need to prepare for something like this. There should be rules for when an emergency happens and guidelines for how students should act. For example, a great rule would be for all cell phones to be powered off and out of sight immediately. Doing this would prevent safety issues and allow cell phones to be used as a classroom learning tool.

In conclusion, it is crucial that schools allow cell phones to be used as a tool in classrooms and that they teach students technology skills and how to be responsible with their devices. Schools must change cell phone policies to ensure students leave schools with the toolset they need to be successful adults.