Redwood Teachers Give their Opinion on the Phone Ban

Redwood teachers express their opinion and future ideas for Governor Newsom’s law redistricting phone usage specifically in classrooms.

By: Milo Rachal

Cellphones in classrooms are a common sight nowadays, but with the state-wide ban on phones, teachers will be able to have students put their phones away and students have to comply.

Teachers currently have a variety of ways to stop phone use in class. Students putting their phones in containers at the beginning of class, or putting phones in backpacks and then putting them at the front of the class. Some don’t do anything and just ask their students to not take them out.

For some time, educators have been advocating for a more strict and uniform approach to cell phone policies. They want to spend less time policing phones in their classroom, and more time teaching.

Megan Baptista, an honors English teacher at Redwood, said, “Students are asked to put their phones in a little cubby at the beginning of class, and don’t get them back until the end of class. So far, it seems like this practice is working really well to help students focus on learning.”

Teachers at Redwood overall agree that the ban is trying to improve students learning and their attitudes in school. They have seen first hand in their classes how cell phones increase students anxiety, especially with their grades.

Student on phone in class
Photo from John Hopkins University

At school, students use their phones for a median of 43 minutes. Referring to the National Library of Medicine, a 3.4 or higher stress score for moderate use of smartphones and a 7.0 or higher stress score for severe smartphone use. Less than two hours a day is a moderate use of a smartphone, a severe amount is over four hours a day.

“Although phones do have some positive attributes in the learning environment, I feel that they do more harm than good. Any positive use of them in the classroom could be replaced with a different learning platform,” says Natalie Duerre, Redwood’s ASL teacher.

There is no doubt that technology will only improve further and further, and continue to embed itself in every classroom and especially in students’ lives. But for now, this ban on just cell phones is a good step forward for now in teachers’ opinions.