If you walked into a class at PHS, what would you expect to see? Teachers walking around class, helping explain concepts, and of course, students are busy at work.
While this seems the archetype many would expect, students are often distracted from their duties at school by their phones.
Students should only have access to these devices for express educational purposes as directed by a teacher in class.
Since the debut and popularization of cellphones, a never-ending struggle has taken place between students, teachers and parents about the role of phones in school. In 2024, California passed a law mandating that “every school district, charter school and county office of education develop a policy limiting the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026.”
To help make their policy decision, PUSD held a survey including students, parents and staff.
While no official policy has been decided, it is clear that PUSD will have to create a new policy for next year.
According to the survey, students are most concerned with their safety/communication, family communication access and academic distraction.
In contrast, staff and parents are most concerned with academic distraction, cyberbullying/social conflict, and mental health/social media exposure.
Many students also may feel anxious without their phone if they need a ride home, and need to contact their parents or the person who plans on picking them up from school, so they know where to go.
The board has since drafted a formal proposed policy, which will be put to a vote.
The policy would ban device use entirely at the elementary and middle school levels, and prohibit use during instructional time at the high school level.
Exceptions would be made for emergencies, medical necessity, teacher permission, or IEP requirements.
We agree with the recommendations and believe that students should have limited access to phones in class. We also believe that high school students should be allowed to use their phones in class for express academic use when supervised by teachers, and they should have no restrictions when not in class.
This gives teachers more autonomy with educational tools at their disposal, and addresses students’ concerns about communication with family.
A stricter cellphone policy will increase the quality of students’ experience as they are held more accountable to make more use of their time in class in a productive and academic way.
The district board should approve the draft policy that balances the concerns of all parties involved and that helps students stay on task in class.