Emma Li

The outcomes make it clear why many districts have chosen to restrict phones entirely, but what works at other schools near us may not necessarily work at Harker. Phones are an integral part of daily life, serving as tools for staying connected with both our peers, parents and the broader school community.

Nearby Bay Area school districts including San Jose Unified and San Ramon Valley Unified began enforcing stricter cellphone bans this fall. These sweeping bans reflect a growing trend of limiting technology usage across California high schools. In San Jose Unified, students must keep their phones out of reach for the entire school day. San Ramon Valley Unified restricted phone use to only during passing periods and breaks. 

Reducing phone use during lessons could help students focus more deeply and engage more thoroughly with the material. Especially at Harker, where demanding coursework and extracurricular commitments often force students to multitask between assignments, limits on phone usage bring important benefits to high schoolers. 

During the school day, many students use their phones to access social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok, a habit that has a strong correlation with higher levels of stress and anxiety and discourages face-to-face interaction. Partially restricting phone use would cut down on this distraction, helping students manage stress more productively and foster healthier social interactions on campus.

The benefits of limiting phone use are well-documented. A study conducted by the London School of Economics in 2016 on English secondary schools found that low-achieving students were shown to improve their test scores by 6.41% after bans were put in place. A year later, a University of Chicago study showed that even the mere presence of a cellphone nearby reduced students’ cognitive abilities.  More recently, schools in the Richardson Independent School District in Texas that adopted phone bans reported a decline in student suspensions anywhere from 15% to more than 50% within a year,  and teachers noted gaining over ten minutes of instructional time each class.

These outcomes make it clear why many districts have chosen to restrict phones entirely, but what works at other schools near us may not necessarily work at Harker. Phones are an integral part of daily life, serving as tools for staying connected with both our peers, parents, and the broader school community.

Student organizations like Harker Journalism, DECA and Robotics depend on phone-based messaging applications throughout the school day to coordinate the large-scale projects they must execute. HSLT and the student council use Instagram to post informative and entertaining content about spirit events, and many clubs use social media to remind students of club meetings. Our weekly school meetings often include QR codes that students need to scan using their phones.

When the districts near us move toward phone restrictions, the expectations and norms surrounding student phone use in our area begin to change. As more local schools adopt strict limits, our community will inevitably face the question of whether to follow their lead or take a different approach.

The responsibility falls to students to make conscious choices with our devices. We should understand the harms of excessive phone usage and be willing to implement healthier practices. This starts with deliberate habits: keep phones out of sight during conversations to encourage genuine interaction; use class breaks as an opportunity to connect with peers; silence notifications to maintain concentration and install app limiters to reduce endless doom scrolling. By adopting these changes, we can set the standard for a healthier phone culture without the need for an all-day ban.