In every school, there are many different types of students. You have the smart kids, the athletic kids, the good kids. But one thing that all of these kids have in common is our phones. All smartphones can access the internet, which can help students do extensive personal reading. Schools can use computers in classrooms, but encourage phone usage out of the classroom. Schools can provide free wifi internet at school so that their students can easily access the internet while at school for our Chromebooks, but we use it for our phones. 

Capital High School student Jack Arthur, Senior. I asked Jack what he thought about having phones in school, he said that “if you are using your phone for Skyward or for music it should be okay to use your phone in class.” anything else 

Another student Lindsey Farrell says that she leaves her “phone everywhere.” Lindsey only uses her “phone during passing periods, lunch, 10-minute break, coug-time or when the teacher says that we can get on our phones.” She says that the times when it is most distracting is when other students have their music up too loud or during a movie and the screen brightness is up. This shows that when you are focused on school you don’t have to have your phone with you. 

Most of the teachers at CHS don’t allow phones in their classrooms but there is one who takes it to a different level. Steven Hamilton has been a teacher here at Capital High School for eight years now. He says that phones are a “distraction and that’s why he has the “Phone Hotel””  where students put their phones in at the start of class and take them at the end of class. He knows when students have their phones because they look at their phones and they have their “heads down” and are giving all their attention to the phones in their hands. This gives students a chance to disconnect from the attachment to our phones.  

This shows you why teachers have their rules. I hope this gives you some insight into the world that we live in where we are so overprotective of social media and our phones. It’s good to turn off your phone when going to hang out with friends or at dinner with your parents. We all need a break from the anxiety caused by social media. Unplug occasionally, it’s a good thing.