Students gather at the beginning of each period to collectively detach themselves from a device that’s ingrained itself into every student’s life for 85 minutes. When the policy was first announced, an air of anxiety swept through the student body. Many wondered how they might endure certain classes without a manner of non-academic engagement for an entire period and how it might impact their productivity or wellbeing. On top of this, the implementation of Deledao’s AI filtering model would render getting around the phone ban virtually impossible.
But this new system has been disputed, developed and refined over many years. Director Reine Hanna of the Department of Communications — spearhead of the number crunching behind the policy — explains that after years of discussion on this subject, “it was a number of things that were coalescing” that caused the implementation of bell-to-bell no cell.
“Teacher experiences paired with research that was coming out about how harmful cell phone usage is to student learning” were catalysts alongside nationwide implementation of similar policies in other schools, according to Hanna. “New York public schools and Los Angeles public schools were all taking a very strong stance on this, and so we figured that inevitably there was going to be some sort of statewide legislation on this,” she added. With other schools unanimously taking charge in banning cell phone usage in class, and with Evanston’s history as an initiative taker on educational reform, the policy was finalized after a long period of rumination and countless studies supporting its efficacy in enhancing performance and wellbeing.
The ambitions of this policy have been relevant to many, including myself. Especially during sophomore and junior year, I recognized that I used my phone excessively during class time, and this habit seemed to be prevalent in my most rigorous courses. For me, my phone acted as a temporary escape from challenge. When a means of dissociation from the topics that challenged me was so readily available, I often chose instant gratification over the satisfaction of perseverance. This distraction forced me to compensate for the time spent on my phone or on my chromebook by working double time at home to make sure that I was prepared for my upcoming exam. And although I might have been satisfied with the outcome, it made those years more stressful than they should have been, and weakened my time management and productivity outside of school.
With the addition of college applications atop my schedule and obligations, I was determined to learn as efficiently as possible. It might have been for this reason that I was more embracing of the phone policy. Despite some difficulties and an itch to use my phone for the first week or so, I was quickly accustomed to the new learning environments, and this experience is shared among many other students as well. As Hanna puts it: “What we’ve found is that most students have been really cooperative with the new policy, and it’s been going really well.” And this is in line with my experiences in class. I’ve yet to see a single classmate sneak their phone and disrupt their immersion with the learning environment.
“I don’t know that there have been any serious incidents of non-compliance or influx [of students] to the dean’s office,” adds Hanna. It seems that in only the first month, concerns over our endurance when devoid of entertainment have been dispelled.
Besides the lack of drawbacks are the benefits that I experience and their corroboration to the data. As with the classes that had already been restrictive of cell phone usage, I notice much greater student engagement in classes. Lecture courses like math and science feel more like collaborative problem-solving environments, and there’s a stark increase in student and teacher interactions.. And this isn’t without quantitative evidence—Hanna mentioned many studies and reports that display the net outcome of these environmental changes in the classroom, such, “the report that was published by the United Nations that talked about how cell phone presence in the classroom negatively impacted student performance and student achievement,” or, “the Surgeon General’s data and research that showed how harmful [cell phone usage] was to students’ abilities to make social connections.”
Cell phone usage’s impacts span across academic performance and student wellbeing in many different ways. Hanna mentions that under the policy, “If I’m giving a presentation in class, I don’t have to worry about being recorded and being made fun of later.” Phones offer a medium of anxiety through social documentation and dissemination that is not present under the phone policy, and the lack of phones in the classroom creates a clearer and more comfortable subconscious environment.
So I urge you to use this policy as an opening to grow in many different ways. Use it as an opportunity to become less attached and waste less time, become more focused, more productive, and more socially and academically confident. Use it as an opportunity to take the initiative and set an example for other students so that you can help spread healthier habits and learning environments. And if you’re really bored, try the New York Times puzzles when you have some free time — they’re pretty engaging.
