Logan Hayes

A student uses their phone during their art class under explicit teacher permission.

For the first time in years, teachers can see the eyes of their students. Too long has it been that a teen’s gaze remained transfixed on their device. Now, students can absorb vital information instead of this week’s gossip. The statewide phone ban has truly been the savior for everyone at Oviedo High School. 

Phone addiction has been a persistent complaint of teachers — for a reason. According to a report by Common Sense Media, an astonishing 78% of teens check their phones at least hourly, and 72% respond immediately upon receiving a notification. 

This provides a distraction from the lesson to the students and disrupts the rest of the class. They may also suffer from gaps in their learning, which becomes evident once test day rolls around, Harvard points out.

The National Institute of Health states that phone addiction is correlated with symptoms of anxiety, depression, sleep deficit, and stress, which could even trigger suicide. 

When high school students stay up late using their phones, they are cutting the limited amount of sleep they can get when waking up early. This can also contribute to mental health issues and paying less attention in class. 

The phone ban can help with the addiction teens face and therefore, its adverse effects. It forces teenagers to restrict their phone usage. Therefore, they might get in the habit of using it less and possibly even see benefits to setting online boundaries. 

Phones are also linked with negative behavior in schools. Students have less access to their phones, allowing less time to post something potentially harmful about a classmate or a teacher. These contribute to students’ perception of welfare in school. Harvard mentions in the same report that after a phone ban is lifted, there is a significant decrease in the safety of students. 

Although there might be a concern for students not accessing their devices if there is a family emergency, phones can be an unneeded disturbance. They can be noisy and bright, possibly disrupting the class. Besides, students should be attentive to faculty or staff to keep them safe and learning. It is understandable that parents might want to check on their children, but it would simply provide an unnecessary disturbance. 

Not only does the ban positively impact students, but also teachers. It is incredibly disrespectful to teachers who take the time to plan engaging lessons, but cannot compete with the lure of social media. It is unfair to them having to battle for the attention of their students. 

One teen being on their phones proves to their classmates that they can do it too! Teachers then have to repeatedly ask their students to put their devices away. Although they may initially listen, they eventually get drawn into its trap again, causing a never-ending cycle.

Students’ bitterness from these exchanges may spawn a sense of detachment or hatred to a teacher, purely because they want them to participate in class. This may also breed harsher, unnecessary arguments that could be easily avoided.

Fortunately, the phone ban prevents this interaction from ever occurring. Since it is enforced by law, students have no excuse not to abide by it. In turn, teacher-student relationships are much stronger. 

Even if on a surface level, any teen would groan at the idea of not having their phone, it will become so ingrained in school culture, that it will barely be noticeable. Students and teachers likewise can finally be at peace, away from past years’ stressors. Maybe students will even discover that life is not so miserable away from a screen.