“Phones are useful, but definitely a little bit concerning when I think about the level of withdrawal they come with,” Multicultural Literature and Voice (MCLV) teacher Erika Mungai said.
To combat this issue, many freshman teachers adopted a unified push against phones in class by enforcing phone pockets this year.
The Electronic Device Policy is a pilot project started in the 2024-25 school year in which some freshman teachers take attendance using the pockets, requiring all students to place their phones in a pocket.
Many teachers have implemented similar policies before, but this is the first time they have worked together to start a grade-wide norm. Although only 11 teachers are participating right now, the pilot may expand if the first semester goes well.
“It’s my job as a teacher to teach and impart the curriculum information, but also teach people how to effectively be in a classroom without those distractions. And so this phone policy is an effort to teach and have students be truly present in the classroom,” said MCLV teacher Erin Walsh, who is spearheading the initiative with fellow MCLV teacher Rachel Wan.
New research has been about the effects of phones on teenagers has spurred teachers to action. “I think a lot of teachers right now are talking about a book called The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt,” Mungai said.
The book connects the sharp decline in Generation Z mental health with the advent of social media and phone usage through extensive studies and data. “The first generation of Americans who went through puberty with smartphones (and the entire internet) in their hands became more anxious, depressed, self-harming and suicidal. We now call that generation Gen Z.” Haidt writes.
“It’s kind of similar to how there are a lot of things that we control for minors, like alcohol,” Mungai said. “One of the things that stuck out from my reading the most was the fact that social media platforms are actually designed to be as addictive as possible. There’s documentation that workers at Facebook used research techniques to optimize their products to be maximally addictive for the teenage brain.”
In addition, phones are a distraction in class. A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that 72% of teachers found cellphones a “major problem” for students. “I just felt exhausted by the end of the day, by the number of times I would have to intervene with students being distracted by their phones,” says Mungai. “And I don’t feel that anymore, now that the phone pocket is established.”
The phone policy may have observable academic effects as well. Both Mungai and Walsh noticed improvements with their students’ performance in class after the phone pockets were implemented.
“They’re getting further through assignments, and I feel like what I’m hearing in class is more complex and nuanced,” Walsh said.
Another objective of the phone policy is “trying to just get kids to connect outside of the screens,” Mungai said. Both teachers and students agree that phones have greatly impacted social relationships.
“I think that high school friendships are very important,” Walsh said. “I do think that phones can interrupt that because we’re wanting to be online more than we’re wanting to interact with people in real life.”
Mungai shared this sentiment, saying, “I feel like high school is a good time to make those friendships that are going to carry forward, but I think it also can be a time where if you don’t make those friendships, you might feel a little alienated at school.”
Both Mungai and Walsh felt that students today are less talkative in class compared to their own high school experiences when phones were less widespread.
“I remember that the teachers would get angry with us for, you know, talking so much when they’re trying to start class. Whereas in my teaching experience, the most common experience I have is that the room is totally silent until I tell people, hey, please talk with each other,” Mungai said.
However, the phone pockets seem to be making a difference. “I would say that since using the phone pocket chart more effectively this year, and being kind of stricter on it, I feel like my students’ social skills and their face to face interactions have become stronger just in the last month,” Walsh said.
This is reflected in research, as one 2014 UCLA study showed that preteens that spent five days without phones improved social skills in tests. Additionally, a Pew Research Foundation study in 2015 found that 89% of Americans used their phone in their last social interaction, and 82% felt that it at least occasionally hurt the conversation.
However, students are more optimistic about socially benefitting from phones. “I think phones can help me talk to people, just because I think social media is a good way to keep in touch or catch up with people,” freshman Elena Chiari said. She added that people talk more to each other in class when their phones are in the pockets. “I don’t mind the phone pockets. I just think as long as we get to use phones when we don’t have class, it’s fine,” she said.
Although the change is necessary, it has not been easy, even for teachers.
“Phones will come out without students even realizing,” Mungai said. “Even for myself, sometimes I find myself taking out my phone and just checking it, even though I haven’t gotten a notification or anything.
Some teachers take the policy even further by participating themselves. “I actually like the excuse to put my phone in my pocket,” said Digital Filmmaking teacher John Giambruno, who puts his own phone in pocket #12. “I feel better, I feel lighter, I feel less weighed down,” he said.
“We’re trying,” Walsh said. “I admire that a lot of students are also trying as well, and that we all as a community, are recognizing the problem that phones are and people are doing their best to mitigate and lessen the addiction.”
