As the school year kicks off, most students of Walpole High are glad that things are starting to return to normalcy. One thing, however, that students are certainly not happy to see is the return of phone holders to classrooms. While no statement has been officially put out by the school, the WHS Administration hopes that they can serve the purpose of limiting the use of cell phones like it did two years ago. 

This action comes after the administration felt, like many others, that students keeping their cell phones with them during class only creates distraction. According to a 2019 study by District Administration, 95 percent of students have their phone with them during class, while 92 percent of students text at least once during class time. Teachers around WHS most likely saw these statistics in action during some of their classes and decided that they needed to bring back the holders to deter classroom distraction. 

Even though the teachers see only benefits coming from this decision, they could potentially be doing a great disservice to the students they are trying to teach. For instance, many students could be using their phones for educational reasons. Perhaps they need to use an app that isn’t accessible on the chromebook to work on a project, but without their phone near them, they are unable to work on it. Some students may need to keep in touch with a family member for a serious matter, but they are unable to connect with them because they are without their phone. At the end of the day, high school is a time where students learn to become independent, and realize that their own success is up to them. Teachers should not need to utilize cell holders just to keep students attentive and ready to learn. The students themselves should make that decision to not pull out their phone when they get a text. 

Cell phone holders might enforce short-term effects on students while in the classroom, but they will not alert students when cell phone addiction becomes a problem. If a student realizes that pulling out their phone every time they feel a buzz is getting in the way of their learning, they would be much better off because they would know that they need to stop. If students are without their cell phones during school, they will not learn how to manage their time and instead will use their device to procrastinate doing their work until the last minute. The effects of this would not be as drastic on one’s grades in the short term, but it is actually extremely untimely and unproductive, and will lead to bad grades accumulating throughout the school year.  

Many students throughout WHS do not use their phones during class time when their phone is in their pocket. For the group of students who do have a problem with their phones in the classroom, they most likely have a problem with it outside of the classroom as well, and cell phone holders would only enhance this. If those students began to recognize that problem, WHS would be much better off as a more productive and efficient student body.