Although PEDs present a significant opportunity for improvement and innovation in the classroom, Midtown’s new policy on electronic devices is taking a step in the wrong direction.

PEDs are an ever-present part of life for students at Midtown as they serve as a social outlet and educational tool. However, the decision to ban all PEDs and threaten students with detention or suspension for having them penalizes student behavior and violates personal responsibility. 

On top of this, not having access to PEDs creates a barrier to communication and damages mental health, as students are not able to contact friends and family. As an alternative, Midtown should have introduced a more constructive solution that allowed students to keep their PEDs in school while also guiding them to lose their overreliance on electronics, which would, in turn, prepare students for the real world.

According to Midtown’s PED Rules and Procedures, detention is issued on just the second infraction and in-school suspension is issued on the third infraction. This policy is extremely severe and harsh, as negative feedback, such as more students receiving disciplinary infractions, has proven that students are already finding it difficult to transition into a PED-free environment. 

Instead of supporting students in succeeding without PEDs, Midtown’s new policy intends to criminalize regular student behavior, which is extremely detrimental to their mental health. By enforcing this policy, Midtown creates a harmful standard where education is valued over the well-being of the students. 

As the policy itself punishes regular student behavior, it also serves as a threat to personal autonomy at Midtown. By completely banning PEDs, the development of personal responsibility for students is largely reduced. Although high school is meant to prepare students for college and the real world by teaching them how to hold themselves accountable, this policy does just the opposite, as it completely revokes students’ access to PEDs. Instead of addressing the root problem by guiding students to deal with overreliance on their PEDs, this policy demonstrates a lack of effort and a lack of care for students at Midtown.

First of all, PEDs are increasingly becoming an apparatus for education in the U.S. According to a study by Stockton University, mobile devices can accelerate learning through increased engagement, access to online information and certain digital resources and applications. If used correctly, PEDs have the potential to transform learning for the better.

Midtown’s comprehensive ban on PEDs reflects a lack of effort to efficiently control the problems surrounding PED usage. If students could access their PEDs for certain educational purposes, teachers could capitalize on the beneficial educational features.

A major aspect of PEDs that contributes to students’ mental well-being is the social outlook they provide. PEDs allow students to stay connected with friends and family, giving them the opportunity to access support as they deal with stress throughout the day. Without PEDs, students may become more susceptible to the pressures of school, thus damaging their academic performance. 

This lack of connection via PEDs can be extremely detrimental to important communication throughout the day. Most students require their PEDs to communicate with family and friends about matters such as transportation, after-school plans, leaving school early and other time-sensitive topics. Not being able to communicate about these issues that are so subject to change throughout the day can present many challenges to students. Along with miscommunications, not being able to contact friends and family poses a serious moral risk in cases of emergency during school hours.

From longer security lines due to checking for PEDs upon arrival to school to large groups of students crowding around the magnets that unlock Yondr pouches, the new policy has resulted in many problems that make navigating Midtown much more troublesome. Due to the new policy, students need to get to school earlier to ensure they are in class by the time the bell rings. This has been extremely inconvenient and stressful for students, creating another unnecessary problem that could be avoided by amending the PED policy.

On the other hand, last year’s PED policy gave examples to how the issue could be handled more effectively. In many classes, teachers were able to control the phone problem if it became difficult to manage by enforcing class pouches that allowed students to access their phones if they needed and retrieve their phones after class. This policy was extremely productive in the classes where it was imposed, thus showing that a much more efficient solution could include motivating teachers to carry out this policy, which would also eliminate the harmful side effects of the current PED procedures.

Each year, tech companies pour billions of dollars into improving the addictive devices that 95% of American teens own: cell phones. Midtown’s new personal electronic device (PED) policy, which bans the usage of cell phones, personal computers and tablets on campus, provides a much-needed smartphone detox that improves the learning environment.

A Common Sense Media study found 97% of teens used their phones during the school day for a median of 38 minutes, about 11% of a school day. Smartphones distract from learning, hurt mental health and strain student-teacher relationships.

The physical barrier of Yondr pouches, the locked fabric pouches that hold students’ phones during the day, can help students break their addiction and create better habits. Phones create a distraction in class because students use them for entertainment and communication during instructional time. Even the ability to access cell phones influences memory capacity and makes it harder to pay attention. The PED ban boosts focus and productivity and provides a seven-hour break from the phone-checking reflex and reduces phone dependency. 

Reliance on social media and technology is detrimental to mental health and has been linked to depression, loneliness, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Forcing students to take a break from the addiction for seven hours every day can help them recover from these negative mental health impacts and recognize how much phones influence their daily interactions.

The new policy also removes a main point of tension between teachers and students. Cell phones were the number one complaint from Midtown teachers last year, which was a main reason for the PED ban. Phones distract students during class and create a disruption when teachers have to collect them and discipline students. This strains student-teacher relationships and increases stress and workload for teachers. This year’s phone policy is fully handled by administrators, which eliminates the need for teachers to take phones and fill out behavior referrals.

The first time a student is caught using PEDs, the device is confiscated and a parent must pick it up. After that, the punishment escalates to detention and in-school suspension. These punishments seem harsh, but with phones locked in pouches, it takes significant, deliberate action to violate the policy. Students must either sneak phones past the metal detectors or break their pouches open, then choose to use them, despite the consequences. Strict, clear rules are required for the school to stand a chance against teenage phone addiction.

While personal laptops and tablets can be a major asset for learning, it is unfair to allow these devices while also banning phones. Personal devices have games, social media and text messaging and can not be monitored like school-issued laptops. It is inequitable to allow certain expensive devices that give some students more access, but ban cell phones, which are far more commonly owned.

School-issued laptops let students use online educational platforms, do research and communicate to parents and classmates through Schoology, but are used less for recreational purposes. This brings students into the present and helps fight technology reliance. While losing PEDs is a rocky transition, it will ultimately benefit the Midtown community as a whole.