Whoosh! There goes the phones from students’ hands as they fly back to their backpacks. Forsyth County Schools has implemented many new policies to ensure students’ quality of education. One of these policies states that students cannot use their cell phones during school periods except lunch in order to provide students with “Distraction Free Education”. It also states that devices, such as phones, earbuds, and other personal technologies are not to be used during school periods. Personal laptops must not be brought to school, as the school provided chromebooks for students to complete work and to use during classes. This policy has had many effects on students, both positive and negative.
First, on the positive side, many students have been able to focus more on their education and what they are learning in class. Putting the phone aside lets students concentrate without any distractions, per the policy’s namesake. According to some students, before the policy was created, they would go on their phone when they were supposed to be working. Student Alina Quereshi admits to slacking off in class which leads to having more homework to do at home showing ineffectiveness and not being able to use her time wisely. This policy allows students to make great use of their time and get more work done faster, allowing students to concentrate on other extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs!
On the negative side, students not having access to their phone and technology leads to hindered communication in emergency situations. For example, if someone in a student’s family is not able to contact their child in case of an emergency, the child will not effectively communicate with their parents, leading to many problems. Another problem is that banning personal laptops and earbuds prevent students from being able to listen to personal music while doing their work, causing negative effects for some students as they are only able to concentrate with music on. This inability to listen to music causes many students to lose focus and become unproductive, and waste important time to work on their assignments. Additionally, many students use their cell phones for educational purposes, such as playing review games or other review materials. According to student Shafa Padsha, she used her phone to play Blooket to review for her quizzes and tests. As per the policy, her ability to use her phone and other personal devices has lowered her confidence on her quizzes and tests, as her phone helped her review. These conditions have caused many negative sides as well.
To conclude, despite both the device policy’s negative and positive consequences, on the education side, it helps ensure quality education to all Forsyth County students!
