As I’m sure most of us are aware of, there are new phone rules in place.

In the past, students were able to bring their phone into the JNA for assemblies as long as they put them away during the actual assembly. However, this year, a new rule was implemented, banning phones from the JNA completely.

When phones were allowed in the JNA, most students used them in the time they had before assemblies. However, sometimes assemblies may have seemed very long or boring for students, so many looked at their phones to pass the time. Teachers realized that phones were a distraction for the students and decided to make the JNA a phone-free zone, hoping that students would pay attention to assembly and senior speeches.

According to Amanda Pomerleau, “…this rule has been helpful for getting students to talk to each other.” Many teachers worry that students spend too much time on their phones that they aren’t interacting with each other, which is part of the reason this rule was enacted.

Mike Canfield agrees, saying “Most educators share the concern of making sure there’s time away from phones… I think that there’s very strong support for [these new rules].” In fact, he believes that “we’ll be having more conversations about where else we can have cell-phone free [zones]”.

While there are no specific rules concerning phones outside the JNA, many teachers have their own phone rules within their classrooms. Pomerleau notices that “When I don’t make rules around it in my classroom…students are on them a lot more…I’ve had far fewer issues with people being on their phones during class just by asking it to be out of sight.”