At school, one of the biggest rules is no cell phones during class. No matter the reason, phones are pretty much never allowed. The school actually seems to go out of its way to make sure we aren’t using them.

Here’s my hot take on this (which is strictly my opinion so take it with a grain of salt): I both agree and disagree with this rule.

I think that phone usage should be allowed to an extent and dependent on circumstances. What I mean by this, is that students should be allowed to be on their phones if your teacher is done with their lecture or lesson, and they give you time to do your homework. If someone doesn’t want to do the work at that time, then they shouldn’t have to. Someone should be able to sit there quietly and be allowed to go on their phones after class work is over.

Another issue with phone use is if you’re caught on your phone during class, then the teacher is supposed to take your phone, send it to the office and you’re given three noon detentions after you pick it up at the end of the day.

I think that this rule is too harsh. Detention should be given to students that have done something that’s worth it, not because they sat there quietly. I think that if there’s a student who was on their phone during a lesson, it should just be taken until the end of class. The detention part of it is going over the limit. I don’t know if there’s something with the building or what, but for me when I’m in school my mobile data gets destroyed. If my phone doesn’t have data, then nothing will load and it will be pretty much useless.

For another perspective, I asked math teacher Jeff Hudson how he feels about cell phone usage. “I like the current rules for cell phones. I don’t think I’d change the rules. I think it depends on the individual teacher, what they can tolerate and what they want to deal with. They’re the ones who have to make the rules and enforce the rules, so it’s really up to the individual teacher,” Hudson said.

I asked another teacher, long term sub, Liam Daniels, how he feels on cell phone usage. “I think that the rules are pretty fair. I know a lot of the time it’s up to the individual teacher. I know in my class if students are caught up with work and have some downtime, I don’t mind if they’re on their phones. However, there’s a lot of times where they’re out and they’re not supposed to be and the kids are distracted. When I was in school it was like a zero tolerance policy across the board, so it’s been a little more relaxed since I’ve come back. I don’t know if I’d change the rules. I think the rules are pretty fair right now,” Daniels said.

I asked Oliver Woollard ’26 about cell phone usage in school. “A lot of teachers are fine with it if you don’t have work to do, and I think that’s reasonable, but if you have work to do then a lot of people are on it when they’ve got a lot of stuff to do,” Woollard said. “I’ve never really had my phone taken away, but I would probably be a little bit salty if it did happen to me.”