Disconnected or Reconnected? Life Without Phones for Grades 9 and 10

Written by Camilla Nesbitt

The first term of this school year, the School introduced a new policy for phone usage, which has sparked a lot of chatter, though not over Whatsapp or Snapchat messages. Grade 9s and 10s are no longer allowed to use their phones throughout the entire school day, from when the first class starts at 8:10AM to when the final bell dismisses students at 3:00PM. 

Phones should be kept inside backpacks or inside lockers for the entirety of the school day, which has a veritable amount of pros and cons, including the advantages of social interaction and getting to know your peers better, as well as the disadvantages of creating obstacles in trying to organise societies and GC meetings during break or lunchtimes, or limiting the focus in class.

Like any new rule, there are both praisers and critics; a student in Grade 10, who is supportive of the phone ban quotes, “The phone ban has benefitted my friendships greatly, and I have built much stronger bonds with all of my friends than before the ban took place”. Contradicting this, another student states that, “I remain steadfast in my belief that the phone ban has only served to create barriers between efficiency and harmed student quality of life”. The mixed feelings across students, parents and staff bring attention to the question, has high school life changed for better or for worse? 

A positive side to this new rule is that there is encouragement for more social interaction between students. Personally, through this phone ban, I have found that I have gotten to know my friends better and spent more quality time with them; without the phone ban I would have otherwise been scrolling through social media next to my friends and staring into my screen. 

Although this phone ban can be sometimes challenging, this is a major benefit for my wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of my friends. 

This shift in phone usage has also not only increased social interaction between students, but also made social interactions feel more genuine. Some students say that the phone ban has helped rebuild a sense of community and belonging, as interactions between students feel more authentic and less oriented around screens and things posted on social media. 

However, in contrast to the positive outcomes of the phone ban, there are also lots of negatives; some negatives include that it leads to less concentration during class, more inconvenience when trying to coordinate activities during lunch, as well as lots of negative attitudes towards the phone ban, because the Grade 11s and 12s have access to their phones and Grade 9s and 10s do not. 

Through these first few months without phones in High School, many students have agreed that there are more inconveniences because of the phone ban than conveniences, especially when half of high school has easy access to messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Google Chat while the other half of high school students do not. 

This makes it especially difficult when societies or GCs, that meet during lunch or break times, heavily rely on coordination on those apps to announce if meetings are cancelled or postponed, which cannot be accessed by many of the Grade 9 and 10 members of those activities without checking their phones.

A friend of mine states, “...As a grade 10 student invested in the school's global concerns, contacting leaders and members to get notified of changes on the fly has never been harder.” 

Another hardship of the phone ban has been the decreased concentration in class. Without phones allowed in school, you would think that the students would be more concentrated and attentive during lessons. However, the ban has had the opposite effect. Students are now more tempted to look at their phones during class than they were before the ban as they cannot look at their phones during break times and lunchtimes. This has been showcased countless times in any of my classes where I will see my classmates with their phones under their desks, not engaging in the classwork or being attentive towards the teacher, because they did not get to view their phone during break or lunch. 

A classmate of mine also pointed out that, “...even if the phones are banned, students are still able to access social media through their laptops during lesson-times”, further reducing the engagement and attentiveness of students in class.

The no-phone rule has certainly reshaped what it means to be a student in Grades 9 and 10. 

Through all of these mixed opinions, the phone ban has helped students strengthen their friendships as well as increased social interaction. But it’s also exposed how deeply our communication depends on the small devices we carry in our pockets.

Whether we are scrolling through Instagram or playing on the AYE with friends, one thing’s for sure: the conversation about phones isn’t ending anytime soon. And for now, it’s happening face-to-face.