<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, the NIH conducted a study on <\/a>the effect of phone usage on college students\u2019 mental health. The conclusion was that mobile devices may have negative impacts on an individual\u2019s physical and mental health. The study indicated that the negative effects had a greater impact on high cell phone users and therefore, \u201cEfforts should be made from stakeholders to assist student\u2019s health and wellbeing through appropriate communication and policies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Studies like these have been motivators for schools to put phone bans into action, and some of these policies have not been well received by communities. In 2015, the city-wide cellphone ban for public schools was lifted by Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fari\u00f1a because parents disputed that they wanted to be able to stay in touch with their children before and after school. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Grace, many students hold the same concern about the policy. \u201cHaving my phone locked up simply stresses me and many others out,\u201d said Apollo K. \u201826. \u201cIf something endangered me during school hours and my phone was locked up, I would feel helpless.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Apollo, Molly S. \u201828 thinks it would be dangerous to not have access to one\u2019s phone in an emergency. \u201cI think it is better to trust the students and take any phones that teachers see,\u201d Molly explained in a survey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n New York Governor Kathy Hochul refuted this stress, stating, \u201cIf there is a crisis that unfolds in the school, then you want these students to be focused 100% on the adult in the room who will lead them to safety.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n With the cell phone policy at the high school, Isabelle V-P. \u201825 thinks that students are being \u201ctreated like middle-schoolers\u201d and not as mature high schoolers as they are. A few Grace students are legally adults but are still forced to lock up their phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lorry Perry, head of the high school, said that it would be possible for students to access their devices in an emergency using a staff member\u2019s magnet, but she underlined that the goal of the policy would hopefully allow students to confide in their community when in need. \u201cIt\u2019s important that you have a trusting relationship with some adult here on campus — if that\u2019s not the case, that\u2019s something that I would like to work on,\u201d Ms. Perry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another concern has been the school budget, with money being spent not just on the Yondr pouches but also on supplies to adjust classes to not using phones. The Yondr pouches alone cost $25 to $30 per student<\/a>. Families are asked to pay for a replacement Yondr pouch if a student\u2019s Yondr pouch is damaged or lost. In classes like Journalism and Yearbook, phones facilitate the capturing of media. The administration has offered to provide digital cameras to these classes, with an estimated total cost of $10,000, according to Ms. Perry. The school will also provide iPads to the library so that students can upload work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis money could be used in so many other ways besides attempting to fix a problem we already have the resources to solve,\u201d said Apollo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many students feel that this new policy is a waste of school funding, especially since many phone functions can still be used with laptops. Students are still able to send texts, watch TikTok, and use Snapchat from their laptops. Anika V. \u201827 said Yondr pouches are \u201ckinda stupid because you can do everything you can do on your phone on your computer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Grace has no intention of going tech-free as \u201ccomputers are too essential to school and life to give up for a nonsensical ban to achieve an obsolete impact,\u201d said Simon S. \u201827.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms. Perry shared some further insights into how the phone policy can positively impact Grace. Last year, teachers were left with the task of regulating phone use outside of designated times and areas. Ms. Perry shared that the school \u201cwasn\u2019t loving the way it felt to students and faculty. It felt like a policing relationship.\u201d Yondr may be able to alleviate the faculty\u2019s responsibility of policing phone use, which should create less animosity between students and teachers and a more welcoming environment, according to Ms. Perry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIsn\u2019t it better to teach students to use phones responsibly rather than take them away?\u201d is a question frequently asked by students in the community and was written up on the Phone-Free School Community FAQ<\/a> sheet. Ms. Perry explained that students can practice productive phone usage at home, but during the school day, \u201cwe want to develop the desire to lean into those ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ms. Perry hopes that the new phone policy will help students become more attentive in school and life. \u201cRight now is a time where we want your primary focus to be on learning and we would delay the thinking about managing cell phones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After deliberating over the issues of the new phone policy for a while, Micah W. \u201826 said, \u201cI’m not going to come up with a perfect solution on this –I don’t think any one person could. I think there needs to be more discussions on this between the students and faculty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many students share Micah\u2019s sentiment that there is not enough room for student opinions at Grace, especially after the sudden announcement of the new phone policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fiona Miller \u201826 and Zarina Medeiros \u201826, the authors, are staff writers for <\/em>The Grace Gazette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/phones.jpg\")