The new St. Pius X cell phone policy… sends shivers down your spine, doesn’t it? For many students, it’s a nightmare they never expected, for others, it’s not so bad. However, is the new phone policy really necessary? So while I’m still mourning the loss of my hotspot (ALLEGEDLY), let’s find out, are these new rules worth it?

The following points relate to several reasons that St. Pius has given its students for the new policies. 

1: Higher Concentration 

When putting the new cell phone policy in place, many argue that removing the phones from the student’s person entirely and putting them in their lockers helps stimulate student involvement and concentration in the classroom. It is true that cell phones are quite literally made and manufactured to be distracting and addicting, HOWEVER, in a school where there was an already pretty strict cell phone policy in place, this feels like an unnecessary addition to the handbook. 

2: Increased Interactions Between Students

Another argument for the implementation of stricter phone policies is that by removing the use of cell phones during the school day, the school is fostering better relationships between students, as they will be paying attention to the people around them instead of their devices. Once again this point is null and void since, because of the existing rules, no one was walking the halls or sitting in class just staring at their phones. 

3: Cheating

Another reason given is that phones can be used to enable cheating. While this is true, I feel like trying to cheat off of your phone during a test or quiz is the easiest way to get caught. And we use computers 90% of the time anyway, which can do pretty much anything a phone can…unless you are in Lockdown Browser, and lemme tell you I have some serious BEEF with Lockdown Browser.

Ok, now that I’ve hashed out the school’s reasons for the new phone rules, here are MY reasons for why this phone policy might not be all up to snuff. 

1: Phone Use for Classes

Throughout my years as a St. Pius student, not a year has gone by without using my phone for a class in some way. From making videos in Latin and English to using my phone to film and record data for experiments, to interviewing people for the newspaper during school hours, many classes use phones to help further learning and ease the class. 

Many students and teachers now have to find workarounds to this phone usage and either buy different filming equipment or struggle after cutting out the use of phones entirely. In a school where students aren’t supposed to be on their phones from 8 am to 3 pm, the amount of phone usage for certain classes is very helpful to the class and makes the class more difficult or expensive without it, because alternative devices often need to be purchased. 

2: Safety

When students try to argue that phone policies should not be put in place, they always point to the concept of safety. Many will state that if students have to put their phones in their lockers if an emergency arises, they won’t be able to contact family or the authorities. Sure we have landlines, but what if the power goes out? Safety is always a priority in any environment, so does this new policy make us less safe? Maybe not necessarily and on the daily, but the point can still be made for special situations.  

3: It’s a Bit Much, Isn’t It?

These new phone policies are kind of strict, and they work ok-ish, but in my opinion, the old phone policy worked just fine. Maybe bring back the phone pockets instead. 

Despite the fact that excessive phone use is a problem in some cases, is this new phone policy really working and worth the time and effort that enforcing it requires? My personal opinion is no. The old phone policy worked just fine and had pretty much the same effect. If the old policy was actually enforced correctly we wouldn’t even be in this mess. But for now, this new policy is here to stay.