It’s 6:30 a.m. As a high school junior, I stumble upstairs, half-awake. The first thing I do is grab my phone.
I’ll check notifications while I eat breakfast. My friend has texted me asking for a ride to school, and I set aside time to pick her up. I see my soccer practice has changed times, and so I pack a bag with my gear. I’ll also play music on my phone while I get ready to leave.
None of this behavior is problematic or strange. Everything happens before I even leave for my high school at 7:15 a.m.. Fifteen minutes later, the late bell rings. Now what?
The question of how accessible my phone should be between that bell and the bell that releases us for the day is now being taken up by the Utah Legislature in SB178. While the supposed problem of what to do with cell phones in schools has no perfect solution, the complete ban of phones from classrooms proposed by the bill is not the answer.
The instinct to control phone use during school hours is understandable. For teenagers, as for everyone else, cell phones can be addictive, harmful distractions. They can be conducive to cyberbullying and anxiety, especially during teenagers’ formative years as their brains develop. Looking only at this side of the argument, it’s easy to make a case that phones should have no place at school.
But technology has positive uses, too. Used correctly, phones connect people, share important information and news, provide uplifting entertainment, and contribute to interpersonal relationships — especially in our increasingly digital world. Additionally, they now have capabilities to help students monitor their health. For example, students with diabetes use their cell phones to check their glucose and insulin levels. The potential downsides to cell phones do not outweigh their upsides.
[Voices: I want my fellow young Utahns to feel the peace I discovered without my smartphone]
Students shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to use technology embodied in cell phones in their education just because we are among the first generations to grow up in a world where that technology has never been more prevalent. As technology grows, we must learn how to grow with it, instead of banning it completely. Forbidding these essential tools won’t make the perceived problem go away; it just postpones finding a real solution.
Instead of adopting a statewide non-solution, Utah should let each school district adopt its own cell phone policy that reflects the needs of its students. Districts could then let each school make its own policy, and schools could give individual teachers the freedom to control phone use in their own classroom. This shows an emphasis on the importance of local control over school matters.
No doubt, I’ve been in classes where putting my phone away for the duration of the class is beneficial. In English, math and history, storing my phone helps me focus on the content being taught instead of glancing at notifications arriving during class.
But I’ve also had classes where having reasonable access to a phone is beneficial. In science and health classes, phones can be used for class-wide learning activities or taking clear pictures tied to assignments. Let’s be honest — we have computers from the school, but computer cameras do not pick up handwriting. In lab periods, we can use our phones to record experiments, create video assignments and double check work.
As a junior, I have three AP classes and one CE class, plus I have taken the ACT and am preparing for the college admissions process. The coursework is hard, and having access to my phone helps me. Teachers should know which of their classes would benefit from having their phones in their backpacks, based on the students and subjects they’re teaching. This would maximize efficiency in learning because, contrary to what some administrators want you to believe, phones can and do improve education when used correctly.
Phones have become ubiquitous in our society. So, if phones are a problem, a proper education should equip students with skills to manage them — not to hide from them.
(Sophia Green) Sophia Green is a junior at Woods Cross High School.
Sophia Green is a junior at Woods Cross High School. This essay was the winner of the Eighth Annual Utah High School Essay Contest on Civility in Politics and Public Life sponsored by Westminster University’s Honors College and underwritten by WCF Insurance. This year’s contest drew entries from 773 students from 72 high schools across the state.
The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.
