With the coming of the new year, new rules considering the restrictions of students’ cellphones have been put into question. If it be students beginning to slump in their studies or seeing rises of online hate through medias, teachers and staff alike have seen phones as a root of problems both in and out of school.
As for the bill itself, it isn’t even guaranteed to be implemented at all; it is currently only being read by the House as of this writing. If it is to be passed, it won’t be fully implemented until the 2026-2027 school year. The beginning of the bill describes a pilot program, in which they’ll test these phone precautions across certain school districts across the state of Washington. This includes giving phones certain times or areas in which they are permitted, “to specified time periods, to designated locations, during particular activities, or by requiring students to leave mobile devices at the front of the classroom or in an administrative office,” with exceptions to be made for students with physical and mental disabilities. Through testing these precautions relating to phones, the aim is to create a model policy that will be implemented, and hopefully, be able to assist in the growing problem with cellular devices in the classroom. Don’t worry, they aren’t just concerned for the student’s academics falling behind, but their mental health and wellbeing themselves. The legislators write that the presence of phones in the school environment leads to “recording students without consent or through increased cyberbullying,” saying it morphed alongside the “COVID-19 pandemic, including . . . troubling trends in student mental health.”
Freshmen across high schools are likely to be the first to be hit with these new restrictions. Their opinions on it beforehand need to be heard as it could very well spell out how the pilot program, or the program in its fullest will turn out. Freshman Kaia Birch was asked how they think they and their classmates would react, they said they’re “fine with phone restrictions but in certain situations. If we have all of our work done in class, there shouldn’t be many restrictions. Just don’t be distracting.” When asked if it was a good idea at all, they mentioned that there’s a line in which the regulations shouldn’t cross, and that “it gets to a certain point and it’s overdone. I don’t think it’s too needed.”
As for seniors, they won’t worry at all. They leave plenty before this plan gets implemented, but their perspective on the bill should be heard just as much. As a senior, they were once a freshman and can think and give insight into how this new generation of high schoolers would react. Senior Olivia Mineer “think[s] in theory, it is meant to be good, but people will retaliate. They find ways to get out of it.” When asked if it would even get past the House, that “I personally don’t think so. I feel it’s a big deal in school, but I don’t think it’s that important,” Mineer said.
Teachers have the biggest say overall. They, if the policy is implemented, are the ones to enforce it, so their perspective on the issue should be seen as a necessity. I asked Mr. Hauck, a teacher of Comparative Government and Psychology. Hauck tells us that he’s very interested in the outcomes of the pilot program across the select schools and that he’d “like to see the results of this pilot. The pilot is one way to gauge the best way forward since cell phones have become such a hot topic.” When asked how he would react if Glacier Peak was one of the few schools chosen, Hauck said that “it would be hard [to adjust]. Different students have different perspectives on phones and some are more consistent regular users and some maybe not so much.”
We really have no influence on if the bill is to pass or not as it works its way through the House and Senate. While many students might react negatively, it is for the good. Being stuck in loops of scrolling social media or watching videos can take away from the learning or the well-being of students, and it truly stems from a concern. If you do see this as bad, understand it is for the greater good.