Over the past few months since the phone ban has taken effect, it has clearly changed the way the building feels. Hallways are less crowded with students staring down at their screens. Conversations at lunch are louder and more genuine now that everyone isn’t distracted by their phone. The policy has done exactly what it was made to do, make students more present in everyday life, and in my opinion it has been unexpectedly beneficial. But as the ban has settled into the daily lives of students and staff, an unexpected flaw has appeared: the easy accessibility and temptation of our phone a couple inches away from us, especially during test days.
In the past, phones were placed in phone holders in the back of the room. This was easy for teachers to make sure no one had their phone in their bag or on their person during lessons and tests. There was a clear physical boundary separating a student from their phone during tests and lessons. If your phone isn’t near you it isn’t a distraction or a temptation.
Since the phone ban, I have only seen a single student use their locker, and instead, most students will either keep their phone in their backpacks or in their pocket. While this is usually not a problem during lessons, I have noticed that the proximity of phones to students while testing makes cheating more accessible and tempting. Before, it was impossible for a student to look at their phone while testing since there was a physical barrier in place.
Cheating has always been a concern in every school, but policies usually aim to reduce the temptation of cheating and not increase it. While I do not believe the administration intentionally intended this to be an issue, I do believe that most administrators are not stupid enough to believe that students are keeping their phones in their locker. Rather, I think they are aware that the majority of the student population keeps their phones in their bag or in their pocket.
Now that phones are in students’ backpacks or pockets instead of phone holders in the back of the room, teachers have to be able to trust their students to not glance down at their device while they look away for a minute during a test.
Some teachers have noticed this as a recurring theme in their class during test days and have taken action. For example, one of my teachers will announce that he will not confiscate our phones if we have to take them out to silence them and to zip them up in our bags before assessments. This gives him the reassurance that students will not be tempted to look at their phone through their pockets or their unzipped backpack. It also prevents that awkward moment when your phone is blowing up in your pocket during a test and you have to pretend you don’t notice it.
While overall the phone ban has had a positive impact on staples students and staff, making students more present in the hallways and relying less on their phones for basic tasks, I do believe that this issue is an unexpected flaw of the ban that should be fixed. Whether it’s bringing back the phone holders on test days or teachers simply letting students take out their phones to silence them and zip them in their bag, something should be put in place by the administration to combat this issue.
