By: Cate Eberly 

The new school phone ban officially started on January 1 in Ohio, prohibiting students attending public, community, or STEM Schools from using their phones throughout the duration of the instructional day.  

First semester at Bellbrook High School, students were not permitted to be on their phones during class and phones were placed in holders or out of sight. However, students still had the ability to access them in study hall and lunch periods. This effort was put into place to help students for the transition to no phones in the second semester. 

Three weeks in, senior Ella Bilen shares she doesn’t mind the phone ban besides her study hall period where she finds it boring after all her work has been completed. Bilen’s other criticism of the phone ban is its inference with her college application process. “We can now only access our school email,” Bilen said. “Now in the midst of applying for scholarships, I can’t access my personal email. Small things like this make it hard to complete all my work throughout my time at school.”

Senior Helena Underbakke also finds the new rule challenging for her time in the classroom. “In some of the medical classes, key websites are blocked,” Underbakke said. “We can request for them to be unblocked but that takes time. Now that we don’t have the ability to look at these resources on our other devices or our phones.”

Bellbrook High School English Teacher Ms. Klepacz reflects positively on the new phone ban. “I haven’t noticed much of a change since the start of the semester,” Klepacz said. “I’m so proud of the kids for being so compliant with the new rule.”

Klepacz also marks how the new rule brings her back to the start of career when schools were cellphone free. “I see way more kids talking and engaging in class,” Klepacz said. “I think some kids secretly like it!”