Imagine a world without phones. A world where students paid attention, where they did assignments without scrolling on TikTok with their phones under the desk, where they were 100 percent present in class.

That world sounds lovely. But it is not a reality that will be achieved by banning phones. 

While we agree with the current practice in many of our classes of keeping our phone screens off and our minds on, we strongly oppose banning phones between classes and during lunch.

Recently, a parent advocacy group named Haven Hold the Phone has been lobbying for a “bell-to-bell” ban, or a ban on phones at lunch, between classes, and during class. In other words, a total ban.

At the February 12 School Board Policy Committee meeting, the administration presented a reasonable and effective revision of the cell phone policy, mitigating the negative effects of cell phones while retaining their positive uses. 

This revision, however, was refused by relentless parents in pursuit of a total ban.

There is an idealistic fantasy coming from these parents that if we pull phones away, students’ experiences in school will be magically and dramatically improved.

It’s true that phones can distract students and teachers if students are constantly reaching for them. Many times, it’s not a valid reason to disrupt class, like checking notifications, texting, gaming, or scrolling on social media, all of which limit learning ability. 

But banning them during lunch won’t fix this.

Phones are tools that can be destructive if used irresponsibly and excessively. But it is just as destructive to leave your kids ill-equipped to deal with an era where everything is online. There is no positive outcome when our future leaders and innovators are left ignorant about how to manage technology in the 21st century.

As for Yondr pouches, they are invasive and ineffective. There are already easily accessible devices on sale that will unlock them. What happens when a student claims to have no phone? Will they be allowed to keep their phone in school, or will they be subject to an invasive and potentially unconstitutional search? Students could bring burner phones to school. What then?

Without any such measure of unreasonably searching students’ belongings, a total ban cannot be enforced. Will we hire new staff to patrol the lunchroom and confiscate phones from students who dare to text their parents? Integrating and enforcing this policy in the high school would waste resources that could be better served to upgrade our educational departments and support our teachers. 

A total ban cannot and should not be enforced. It does not solve the problem of cell phone addiction universally, as many students can spend unlimited time outside of school on phones, no matter what a school does. The current policy already prohibits students from using phones in class, which is the primary time they need to fully engage in a learning environment.

A ban would disrupt communications between home and school, and it is unreasonable to suggest that calling the office would be a viable replacement. The office would be overwhelmed with calls because parents can and will attempt to contact their students about extracurricular activities and transportation. Students who take care of their younger siblings would be unable to stay connected with the people they are responsible for supervising after school.

A ban would be thrust upon our school by a group largely composed of elementary and middle school parents—a fact acknowledged by both School Board President Kevin Henry at the February 12 Policy Meeting and Haven Hold the Phone in their letter to the Swarthmorean published February 28. These parents do not yet understand the practical need for phone communication in young adults’ busy schedules.

A ban would interfere with the communication essential to student activities and athletics. Our newspaper staff and speech and debate team use Slack for planning. Countless teams use TeamSnap for scheduling practices.

Haven Hold the Phone members have cited that cafeterias in other school districts returned to “joyful and noisy” after a bell-to-bell ban. We wish they could see that Haven’s cafeteria and hallways have never stopped being joyful and noisy. This occurs even when students have phones in their hands.

A ban will continue to be viewed unfavorably by the majority of students. If parents want to restrict phones throughout the entire school day, they can impose those limitations on their own children, as School Board member Michelle Williams has suggested.

And nationwide favor for a total ban is not quite so strong as some make it out to be.

In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of surveyed parents supported a full-day ban on phones in school compared to the 53 percent who opposed the full-day restriction. Roughly 60 percent of parents who opposed the ban cited that “parents should be able to reach their child when needed,” reflecting the importance of parent-child communication for student safety and success.

A ban would place an undue and frankly impossible burden of enforcement upon already overworked administrators, teachers, and staff. Do they need to track every time a student inevitably finds a way to work around the phone ban? Kids can get creative, and teachers are not babysitters.

A ban would prevent students from holistically learning to live in the digital age and learning to use a phone as a tool—not as a crutch.

A ban is not the solution. Ask yourselves why students overuse phones.

Social media feeds are curated to love you and know you better than anyone else. There are many parallels between the escape of a fantasy book and the escape of social media. The main difference is that scrolling can last forever, and it will last forever if we pursue a policy like this because a ban doesn’t teach students how to manage technology.

This proposed ban hurts and does not help.

What are we teaching kids if we take phones away completely? That their problems are solvable by avoidance?

Instead of proposing phone bans, we should teach and encourage students how to use their phones to help them enter adulthood with a better understanding of using technology wisely in a growing digital age. 

As we learn how to manage our own choices—and we will make mistakes, because that is part of growing up—we can make phone use one of the first checkpoints for students to become responsible adults.

The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the Editorial Board, which consists of the majority of student editorial staff listed on this page.