On July 28, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill that would restrict cell phone use in all Illinois high schools. This decision was passed with the intention of engaging students in material, while freeing teachers from needing to manage their classes behavior.
“I don’t think [students] are ready [to have phones] yet,” said OH Social Studies teacher Sarah Carlson. “We need to switch to something else.”
At OH, many classes require students to put their phones up in a pouch before the start of the class period. According to OH classroom cell phone practices, often published in course syllabi, the main concern with phones in the classroom is that students will get distracted by them, keeping them from paying attention in class. In theory, if they don’t have access to their phones during class, they will be more likely to stay engaged with material.
OH teachers, like Carlson, have noticed their students being distracted by phones in class, and this has the potential to take away from learning. The goal of a phone ban, like that signed into effect by Governor Pritzker, would be to minimize these effects in the classroom. Students agree.
“I feel like when I have my phone, I’m more likely to go on it and just not learn,” OH junior Charles Butkus said. ” While if I don’t have my phone, I’m more likely to do my work.”
However, for some students, phones are not an issue in the classroom, but instead a tool to use. In these cases, a phone ban can actually take away from a student’s ability to learn.
“I’m not really someone who’s going to get affected by phones,” said OH senior Jayden Alvarado. “It seems kind of useless to me.”
Still, legislation has decided that in most cases, students will learn better without their devices than with them. Even though this phone ban has the potential to engage students in the classroom more, some students worry how those who don’t want to learn will still find other things to do in class. They think that learning is not impacted by restrictions in the classroom, but student willingness to study material.
“For me [a phone restriction] doesn’t really make a difference, because I’m here to learn,” said OH senior CarterWahmann. “But for kids who don’t really want to learn, they would still do some non-academic activities, even if they didn’t have their phones.”
In today’s world, it isn’t feasible to remove technology from classrooms completely. Since COVID, SD#308 has been 1:1 with Chromebooks which are often used in class, so students will still have access to the Internet and all its distractions even without cell phones.
Some students may be annoyed by the ban, but teachers like Carlson report it was made with their best interests in mind, aiming to enhance their learning.
Hi! My name is Ben Herrera and I'm a Senior at Oswego High School. This is my first year on the 42Fifty staff, and I'm currently a Reporter. Additionally, I am involved with Oswego High School's cross country and track teams, as well as multiple honor societies. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
