Flint Hill recently implemented a new, official phone policy in the Upper School. At the beginning of every class, students are supposed to put their phones in a cell phone holder so they aren’t tempted to reach for them during class. This was enforced to promote productivity and focus. This policy is more lenient and flexible than other public schools in the area. Some other local schools have to lock their phones up the whole day and can only access them after school. This has proven to be ineffective because public school students have figured out ways around this rule due to how restrictive their policies are. Flint Hill’s policy is effective because it provides flexibility and independence. However, some students are still not in favor of this new policy. Junior Maggie Hennessy said, “I feel like it should be up to the student to decide whether or not they want to use their phone in class. It is about self-control; students should be able to practice self-control.” She believes that time management is an important skill and that control of phone usage can help teach students and prepare them for life after high school. She also points out that university students don’t follow any phone policies, so this short-term policy won’t permanently affect students’ lives.

With the phone policy came many mixed opinions. I do not have a big issue with it as I did not frequently use my phone in class before this, but many people do. Some have even mentioned that they wanted even stricter parameters to encourage complete technology restriction and using paper materials more frequently. Overall, I believe that this phone policy was a good idea, and any other more lenient policy is not realistic during this time, so there is no point arguing for more freedom technology-wise.