Phone Garages-good or bad?

A new controversial addition to many high schools across the U.S  are phone garages, little numbered pockets that hold students phones during classes. This started because some students were using their phones during class, so many teachers were annoyed they weren’t focusing on learning. So this year, at the start of class, students have to put their phones into the pockets. Every teacher is different and they have varying policies about if its necessary to use the garages every class. People have different opinions regarding the phone garages and if they’re useful for schools or not.

I sent out a poll to students and teachers for them to submit their opinions on phone garages and their affects on Sutton High school. The results of the survey are found in the graphs:

It’s easy to see that the vast majority of students don’t like the phone garages. But interestingly enough in the first graph some still admit that they could be beneficial for learning and have a positive affect on school.

On one hand, phones can be distracting to have during school and its very difficult to stay focused when there is always a device buzzing. Ultimately they cause many distractions and students and teachers alike can find it hard to depart from their devices for even as long as a class period.

Most teachers that I’ve talked to also put their phone away into the garages during class. Also cell phones are proven to be an addiction so schools setting boundaries on when students can use them could have positive affects.

Before now it was hard for teachers to monitor their classes and make sure everyone was engaged in the current lesson. But the phone garages limit distractions causes by student and teachers devices.

On the other hand, fully restricting students access to their own personal property is unfair. Allowing students to monitor their own cellphone usage and find the appropriate time to check their phones is an important skill to learn.

If a student uses their phone in class without the teacher’s permission then the teacher’s decision to confiscate the phone is fair. But having phone garages for even students that always listen to teacher’s rules is unfair and pointless. Students learning to find the appropriate time to use technology is very important and a skill that schools can help teach.

Overall even though people have differing opinions on if we need to have phone garages, there are pros and cons of having them and of getting rid of them, and the likelihood is that they are here to stay.