The upper school administration recently reaffirmed their commitment to enforcing a phone policy, which was introduced in the spring of last school year.
The policy states phone caddies will be enforced in all classes and that phones are not allowed to be taken during class breaks. Headphones are also prohibited unless students are listening to videos assigned by teachers. Head of Upper School Beth Slattery reaffirmed the policy in an email to students before the first day of school. The middle school’s rules state that phones are not allowed at any time of the day until the last period, Head of Middle School Jon Wimbish said in an email.
Slattery said she has not planned on introducing further restrictions on phones such as a full ban on campus because she has confidence in students’ ability to use their devices responsibly.
“I don’t think there’s anything we’re going to impose on day one, because this is an issue where I would like to have input from kids’ lived experiences,” Slattery said. “I’m just not ready to do anything yet because I feel like I haven’t gotten input from all of the stakeholders, and I don’t like making decisions banning something like [phones]. [Students] are going to be in college in short order, and so they should learn how to use it responsibly. It is probably not in their best interest for us to say they can’t have [their phones] when they can have it the rest of their life.”
Slattery said phone use has become an issue since students struggled to readjust to class after a break last year.
“The thing that I would like to start off with is enforcing it in classrooms because that has gotten really lax,” Slattery said. “People don’t use the caddy anymore. Teachers have talked to me a little bit about how it is problematic when [students] go on break.”
Jonah Greenfeld ’27 said students sometimes use their phones excessively.
“Students have formed too much dependence on using their phones,” Greenfeld said . “Whether it’s searching for answers on Google or hours spent on social media, [students] spend an irresponsible amount of time on their phones. A policy limiting use would be beneficial for students to learn on their own and not have their curiosity satiated by looking things up.”
However, Greenfeld said he doesn’t support a total ban.
“Phones do play an important role in keeping [students] connected and having fun,” Greenfeld said. “A complete ban wouldn’t be good, in my opinion.”
Jett Jasper ’26 said he believes healthy phone usage should be up to the student rather than a schoolwide policy.
“In most cases, I’ve seen that the current policy of keeping your phone in the caddy works extremely well and successfully,” Jasper said. “A policy limiting phones [outside of class] would be unhelpful since most people would find a work around in the end. They would want to use phones in the cafeteria since it is a much smoother process. Phone restrictions should not be enforced because it’s just a matter of self control. If you’re on your phone too much, that’s on you.”
Upper School Math Teacher Amy Stout said she noticed that constant phone usage led to less participation in her class last year, and hopes that the reaffirmed policy will solve the issue.
“I’m up for supporting what the school thinks is in the best interest of students’ mental health,” said Stout. “Getting students to focus in class is important and that was a struggle last year, so I’m looking forward to seeing how [the policy] helps with teaching.”
