On July 9, Virginia’s “bell to bell” cell phone policy was issued by Governor Glenn Youngkin through Executive Order 33. Starting this school year, the policy states that public school students’ cell phones should be turned off and stored throughout the entire academic school day.
However, as a private school, Flint Hill still has a choice to make about the cell phone policy. Under the current Upper School phone management system, students store their phones away during class but keep them during passing periods, free periods, and lunch. This system has been in place for the past couple of years with few changes. However, with new research coming out regarding the negative effects of phones on teenagers’ mental health, among other academic concerns, the Upper School phone system is subject to change. So far, opinions of students on the phone policy have been varied. “Personally, I think we should really minimize the access we have to our phones because they’re so distracting, especially when you’re trying to get work done. If that means fully removing them during our entire school day, then I’m fine with that”, says junior Maisie Herrick. “Of course, we need to look at the other issues too and make exceptions whenever necessary, but overall I think that’s the best option for everyone moving forward.”
The issue of phones is highly nuanced, and the Upper School team is working hard to gather as many opinions as possible to make the best decision. A conference with parents as well as teachers has already been held, where various points were noted and taken into consideration. Individual class meetings with each Upper School grade level are also being organized for the month to gather additional perspectives regarding the future phone policy.
The first class meeting took place on September 11th with the Junior class. Overall, most Juniors were satisfied with the current phone system and wanted to keep it as is. “The current phone policy works pretty well for me. I don’t use my phone during classes, but I can still have it the rest of the day to communicate with friends or listen to music,” says junior Divya Kudva.
Numerous insightful points were also brought up by students during the Junior class meeting, including some classes needing phones for academic activities, the potential need to communicate with parents during the school day, incorporating more paper worksheets to mitigate negative impacts of technology, phones being an opportunity to independently practice responsibility, and many more. “I think that the phone policy should be relatively relaxed. I think we should be able to have it outside of classes, but not in class. Because when we’re in college, nobody is going to be there to restrict phones for us,” junior Riya Goel says. “We need to learn the life skills ourselves so that we’ll be able to control ourselves in the future when it comes to our phones.”
There is no set date for the phone policy update yet, as it is a significant decision that will affect every Upper School student. Over the next few weeks, Flint Hill’s seniors, sophomores, and freshmen will also have the opportunity to communicate their opinions regarding the Upper School’s future phone policy and contribute towards an ideal future phone policy for everyone.
