No phones in schools: A distraction removed or a connection lost?

As of January 2025, the Berkeley County School District implemented a no cell-phones policy in schools, prohibiting use of any device capable of accessing the internet or using Wi-Fi. Devices have to be stowed safely away in your backpack for the school day. If you have your device out and your teacher sees, your device will be confiscated. This policy is keeping students focused in classrooms. But is it really as helpful as it seems? 

Most kids have phones and smartwatches to communicate with their parents after school and during activities. If their device gets confiscated, kids won’t be able to contact their adults until their device is returned [at the end of the day.] On Daniel Island, many students bike or walk to school, and having phones and smartwatches lets them stay in touch with their parents. 

Removing phones in classrooms definitely makes teachers’ lives easier. They know students aren’t staring at screens (other than a school-provided Chromebook or a Smartboard); they’re learning the lesson. But why don’t Chromebooks, a device that uses the internet, count in this ban? New research is also revealing that test scores are, in fact, going down. In Maine, which was one of the first states to add Chromebooks to public schools, test scores stayed the same after 15 years of Chromebook usage. 

Although bullying rates, test scores, and attendance rates are staying about the same, research shows that there are potential long-term benefits to the ban. 

So what do you think? Is the phone ban worth it?