Lucy Langrall

This year, many Friends classrooms feature new places for students to check their phones at the door.

This year at Friends, phone restrictions have gotten stricter than ever. In each classroom, there is a designated area to put student phones. This could be in a bin or on a rack with pouches hanging on the door. 

In past years, officially, all phones had to be put in a bin to comply with a policy in the Upper School Family Handbook. But usually, by the second or third week of school, teachers would give up enforcing this rule. This resulted in extensive phone use in classrooms causing distractions during class time. 

This year, the school started strong on its determination to keep phone usage to a minimum, and the vibe hasn’t changed. In some classrooms, the phone bin gets passed around more often than last year. In others, after a teacher takes attendance, they check the phone pouches on the door to see if every present person’s phone is there. 

For students, putting phones away immediately as they enter a classroom, and not looking at them throughout class, has resulted in a higher probability of forgetting their phones and having to come back for them. 

In Collection, there is a new rule that students have to put their phones in their backpacks before they enter the Auditorium. Last year, lots of people in the Auditorium were on their phones doing whatever they wanted. Students tried not to get caught because it was technically against the rules. But now, students aren’t even allowed to have their phones with them. Even having them on their laps but turned off can result in their Advisor calling them out. 

Students who attended Friends School last year can feel the difference. There’s a pressure to be off of phones that wasn’t there before. But students who are new this year see this as normal.