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Students in classes where phones are not allowed have been proved to be more focused and earn better test scores.
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Students are reminded to put their phones away so they can pay attention to the lesson.
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Phone caddies like this ensure all students put their phones away in a safe place.
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One teacher at Memorial ensures her students’ engagement by removing the distraction of their phones.
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When students are on their phones, they are likely going to miss instructions and not understand their assignments.
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Taking away phones might become more common in schools to ensure students stay focused.
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As Oklahoma lawmakers are beginning to meet for the first time after the new year, cell phones in the classroom are the topic of discussion, leading to a bill that could ban phones beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. So far, the House committee has voted 11-2 to advance the bill to the Education Oversight Committee. However, at Edmond Memorial High School, some students are advocating to keep phones in classrooms.
“I use my phone in school in many ways,” senior Konner Mackey said. “I use it to check [upcoming assignments], upload assignments and deadlines into my calendar and listen to music.”
Mackey supports the idea of using phones as a tool. Similarly, he continues to explain that he believes the removal of phones from classrooms will negatively impact students.
“[I believe] it would actually disrupt classrooms more,” Mackey said. “I feel as though the elimination of phones in school will cause students to be even more off-task, resulting in not doing work out of boredom, talking to other classmates about topics not relevant to schoolwork, etc.”
Because of the increased access to phones in recent years, many students use their phones as a main source of social interaction. Psychologist Olivia Rosol, a proponent of the ban, explains that students are losing opportunities to have social interactions in person rather than through a screen.
“Not only do academics have the potential to improve, but the overall mental health of students can be improved with phone bans, too,” Rosol said. “Additionally, schools with phone bans in place have reported students actually talking more to each other face-to-face. This has led to better communication and social skills among students.”
Alongside the distraction and social aspects of phones in schools, in-depth research has gone into the benefits and drawbacks of these personal devices. Mackey describes a scenario in which students benefit from using phones, specifically to listen to music.
“You can use your phone to listen to music while in school, as the [district-provided] computers have all music services blocked,” Mackey said. “It has been proved in many articles that listening to music can help students focus, learn and retain information while in school.”
However, Rosol points to numerous accounts in which phones are more harmful than helpful. Even if a student attempts to focus and refrain from checking their phone, its presence can be a distraction.
“There is a plethora of research that supports banning phones during the school day,” Rosol said. “Research indicates that even just having a phone nearby, regardless of whether you are actively using it, can be distracting and negatively impact focus and cognitive performance.”
While this topic is still up for debate, many impactful arguments are being made as to whether the ban should be supported or not. Students, perhaps having a different perspective than teachers or lawmakers, will likely feel the effects of the ban, whether it be beneficial or detrimental.
Contact Esther Wood at [email protected]
