Disclaimer: English teacher Mr. David Byron does not actually smash student cell phones, though he has a running joke in his classroom that he will if student cell phones are being misused.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For English teacher Mr. David Byron, the high school\u2019s new cell phone policy means the end of the long-running joke about his “phone-smashing” legacy. AJA High School legend claims that Mr. Byron, a staunch enforcer of school cell phone policy, would forcibly destroy any student phone he spotted during class. But with the new policy requiring students to place their phones in designated classroom pouches, Mr. Byron has noticed a sharp decrease in student infractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo far I haven’t had to smash any phones,\u201d he joked, \u201cand I’m a little worried that I’m not going to have to\u2026 at all this year.\u201d Despite teacher concern that the new cell phone policy \u201cwould be met with a lot of pushback,\u201d Mr. Byron felt that students have adjusted quickly to the change. \u201cI feel like they have accepted this and realized that they don\u2019t need their phones all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The high school this year cycled out of its \u201cseen or heard\u201d cell phone policy, which allowed students to keep their silenced cell phones in pockets or bookbags as long as they did not take them out during class. Under the new policy, students place their phones in designated pocket compartments hanging on each classroom wall and can pick up their phones in between classes or after tefillah. The consequences for offending the cell phone policy escalated, too. Students no longer get initial small warnings; they now lose access to their phone during the school day for a week, two weeks, and a month for each subsequent infraction. These consequences are intentionally \u201csevere,\u201d according to Mr. Rojek, who hopes that they are a serious \u201cdeterrent\u201d for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three years ago, the high school had reinstituted its cell phone policy by strengthening the disciplinary system for phones that were seen or heard during class. That worked initially; an October 2021 issue of Palette<\/em> reported few offenses to the policy in its first year. Since then, however, its effect faded, prompting Mr. Rojek and other administrators to reconsider the policy this year. \u201cIt was very easy to just walk through the hallways during class time,\u201d he recalled, \u201cand to see cell phones in student hands.\u201d He hopes the current policy creates \u201cbetter, clearer structures and more accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This year\u2019s cell phone policy followed the release of research by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, which links increased smartphone and social media usage to the rise in childhood anxiety and depression.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The administration\u2019s latest push to limit student cell phone use focuses on promoting overall well-being, not just mitigating the \u201cdistraction\u2026 from learning\u201d that the administration cited in Palette\u2019s 2021 story. This year\u2019s policy change followed the release of research by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, whose 2024 book The Anxious Generation <\/em>links increased smartphone and social media usage to the rise in childhood anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That research shaped conversations among AJA\u2019s leadership. High School Counselor Dr. Pam Mason attended a conference along with representatives from 50 Jewish day schools in May, hosted by the Jewish Parents Forum, a project of Tikvah for American Jewish parents. The conference discussed Haidt\u2019s findings and steps schools can take in response. \u201cWhen I came back,\u201d Dr. Mason explained, she and other administrators began asking \u201cwhat could AJA High School do better?\u201d They landed on stricter enforcement of the cell phone policy, after realizing that \u201cwe weren\u2019t being effective in actually policing\u201d it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The administration has been open to feedback on the cell phone policy so far. Originally, in an effort to stagger the consequences for repeated offenses, students lost their phone for one night upon their first infraction. Several parents didn\u2019t want their students without access to their phones overnight due to safety concerns. Nonetheless, these same parents supported the cell phone policy overall, according to Mr. Rojek. \u201cListening to that feedback and reflecting on the policy,\u201d Mr. Rojek said the team adjusted the consequences and started with the second offense of confiscation for one week during the school day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many students approve of the cell phone policy and its effects on their screen time and focus. Senior Noa Geller said the policy helps her \u201cbe in the moment,\u201d so she can \u201cactually focus without reaching for [her] phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophomore Ariella Shulman agreed. \u201cI think it\u2019s good to leave your phone for a little bit,\u201d she said. \u201cI am more focused for sure during class.\u201d Ariella added that adjusting to the new policy decreased her screen time outside of class too, making her \u201cmore used to not having [her] phone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all students agree with the positive impacts of the policy. Sophomore Johnny Wilson thinks phones can be used as a positive and convenient classroom tool sometimes, for purposes such as music. The cell phone policy also \u201cjust makes me want to go on my phone more out of school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even for those who agree with the policy, students still feel some frustration with its specifics. Noa doesn\u2019t enjoy the inconvenience of remembering to put her phone in the pockets for each class, and junior Noam Glazer described the punishments as \u201ctoo harsh, too quick.\u201d Although he\u2019s \u201cmore productive\u201d without his phone in class, Noam thinks teachers should be able to assess individual circumstances before quickly confiscating a phone. He explained, \u201cThere are genuine times when people need to use their phones like calling a parent, checking the schedule, connecting to headphones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parent support of the policy has been strong, according to Dr. Mason and Mr. Rojek. Many parents have even encouraged the high school to go entirely cell phone free. According to Dr. Mason, parent advocacy for a complete cell phone ban began before the school year did, but the administrators chose to allow phones during transition periods and lunch while they continue to listen to feedback from other parents, students, and teachers and monitor the impact of the current policy\u2019s enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To gather feedback and inform parents about the research behind the policy, AJA High School hosted a roundtable event on September 3. During the event, Dr. Mason shared that parents focused on the question, \u201cIs it more beneficial to take phones away for the whole day so students are completely not distracted?\u201d She elaborated that asking students to transfer their phones between classrooms can trigger unhealthy dopamine hits during transition times, as students instinctively check their phones when picking them up. On the other hand, a more lenient cell phone policy offers students the opportunity \u201cto learn how to manage using a cellphone in school\u201d as a model for real life and a part of the college prep experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonathan Haidt, along with schools nationwide that implemented full cell phone bans this year, argue that schools \u201caren\u2019t the place for [practicing]\u201d this kind of cell phone management, added Dr. Mason. However, AJA High School remains open to input on the current policy as it plans for the future. Regardless of the national trend, \u201cIt doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll go along,\u201d Mr. Rojek explained. \u201cWe just want to understand it, and we want to engage with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article contains interviews with High School Counselor Dr. Pam Mason, who is also the author\u2019s mother.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" High School Adopts New Cell Phone Policy Enforcement Plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":2356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Photo by OpenArt.ai","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry","rows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/openart-image_I2-eHFVg_1727884001473_raw.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}