Should Smartphones Be Allowed in School?

In recent news, France has passed laws that forbids students from bringing their smartphones to school. If they do bring them, they must put them on silent so they don’t interrupt classes while in session. The ban only applies to children ages 3-15.

Along with the ban of smartphones is the ban of tablets, and any other communicative or distracting devices. High schools have the ability to decide if they want to enforce the law or not. The reason for this law being set in place is because pupils nowadays just can’t seem to get off of their phones. It starts to affect grades, and being on your phones all the time is unhealthy.

There have been studies done to back up this new law. According to CNN, there are studies which claim that smartphones are so addictive to the point that many of us suffer from nomophobia, which is the fear of not being able to use your smartphone or other smart devices. Other studies show that smartphone addiction can be changing your brain, which is scary for some to even think about.

People nowadays are so dependent on their cell phones and feel like they always need one on them. French lawmakers are hoping to limit this in their schools and really make a difference in our generation. These lawmakers seems to be confident that these new changes to their schools will be beneficial.

Teachers deserve to be given full attention during class time. Although that is hypocritical of me to say, since I do occasionally go on my phone during school, but when you think about it, it’s wrong. You go to school to learn, and it is difficult to learn when you’re constantly glancing over at your phone and distracted in class. Everyone feels differently about laws like these. There are plenty of reasons to support the ban, but there are also valid reasons not to.

A senior, Erin Jones, said, “It may not be the best idea to not allow phones because kids use the internet to have easy access to information. If I have have a question on what I’m learning, and my teacher lets us look up an answer, it really is much easier for students. Why not take advantage of the easy accessible technology we are given?”

Evan Ackerman, said, “This isn’t a good idea because what happens if I need to call my parents during school, or if ” It does sound unfair to many, but then again, it’s a controversial subject with many different opinions.We are so used to being able to go on our phones at any given time and it’s difficult for students to accept that they shouldn’t need phones during school.

This law can bring up many students grades, which reflects well on not only the school, but also the country as a whole. It’s so hard to pay attention when you have the opportunity to grab your phone and distract yourself.

This law only applies to the country of France, but how do you think the U.S would react to a law like this in our country? Or even in HF, how would our students feel? In HF, going on a cellular device during class is prohibited, but still, many kids are constantly on their phones and don’t get in trouble. We are lucky that many of the teachers here are lenient with phone use. But what if we couldn’t go on our phones at all. Students would be outraged. While talking to a sophomore, Lili Noah, she said, “I don’t think the banning of phones at our school would sit well with students considering everyone is always on their phones.” It seems like HF students wouldn’t be pleased with a rule like this.