Buzz. Buzz. Your phone buzzes on silent repeatedly into a bucket of nothingness. It’s your boss trying to reschedule your work shift. But, you’re in English class where nothing else matters.

Students are required to give their phones away during class, intentionally severing students from the outside world. The English department is using this rule to control the students of University Prep.

Students have lives outside of school: jobs, sports, familial obligations, etc. Some of which require
students to answer their phones as soon as possible. Now, in the 21st century, phones are a necessity for communication and losing that accessibility, even just for an hour, can have an impact. This doesn’t mean
that students should be on their phones in class, but they should still be reachable during class in case of an emergency.

Because she wasn’t comfortable with leaving her phone in a bucket, Junior Naz Kuti left her phone with a friend before class. When she told this to her teacher, she was told to bring her phone to class so she could put it in the bucket. Yes, you read that correctly; she was told to bring her phone, just to give it away. This feels like the English department would rather have control over their students rather than trusting them as people.

Being required to put my phone in a “phone spa” feels very elementary. This school needs to start treating us as adults (as the seniors will soon be) to prepare us for the real world, rather than as 8-year-olds. Soon, I’ll be old enough to vote in elections, or even join the military. Yet, I’m not trusted enough to keep my phone on me during class.

I understand that teachers do this to limit distractions, but students need to learn how to manage this themselves. This is especially applicable to seniors who will be going to college and will be living on their own. The phone rule clearly appears to have been decided solely by the faculty with no regard to students’ opinions. Being a senior, I hear many of my peers sharing this disapproval for the rule, and sharing better options.

“Fixing the problem would be blatant discussions or set expectations,” Senior Haley Hoffman said. “Removing the phones altogether is creating a short term fix for a long term issue.”

We don’t need teachers to baby us. We need to practice making good decisions for ourselves. So, I ask the English department: please treat us as the adults we are becoming and stop taking our phones.