After reading Thoreau in English class last week, my classmates and I discussed parts of our lives we’d need to give up to follow his philosophy of “living deliberately.” Overwhelmingly, we shared an answer: our phones.
It’s easy to romanticize stepping away from devices to live more intentionally. Most teens are well aware of phones’ negative impact on our lives; we know they can sometimes prevent us from truly connecting with one another and inhibit deeper, more meaningful conversations. I frequently hear my classmates discuss being ashamed of their screen time or attempting to “detox” from social media.
I, too, often wish I relied less on my phone and social media. To avoid doomscrolling, I have downloaded website blockers and even asked friends and family to set screen time limits on my phone. Every time my screen time spikes, I start feeling guilty — what real moments am I missing out on?
On Sept. 23, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Phone-Free School Act, which requires California school districts to implement policies that ban or limit smartphone use by July 2026. At least, eight states have enacted similar restrictions on cellphone use in schools.
I understand why educators are pursuing these policies. There is legitimate concern about students’ focus and social connection during school hours. However, as a senior about to graduate who hasn’t experienced restrictions on school phone use, I’m skeptical that bans will actually get teenagers away from their screens.
I worry that teens who cannot use their phones during the school day will be more likely to overindulge after school — time they could spend socializing with friends or family. Moreover, these policies could cause students to maintain unhealthy phone habits as they enter adulthood.
Yes, students frequently use electronics — not just phones — irresponsibly. But so do adults! Teens will eventually have to learn to coexist with new technology, be it phones, virtual reality or artificial intelligence. Instead of simply banning phones, administrators and politicians should focus on creating practical, healthy device guidelines.
At my school, topics like sex and drug education are approached through a harm reduction lens. This means providing students with practical, nonjudgmental information to minimize risk. Harm reduction recognizes that some students will engage in activities like drug use or sexual activity despite warnings, and rather than pass judgment on such students, it promotes safer practices to reduce potential harm.
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According to the National Library of Medicine, harm reduction studies related to drug education have shown students were less likely to consume substances and less likely to consume to harmful levels in contrast to “Just Say No” campaigns, which had little to no reduction in drug use by teens.
I believe that phone policy can, and should, be approached in a similar way.
Schools should offer counseling or workshops to address phone addiction, cyberbullying and the dangers of social media. Apps and phone settings that limit screen time should be taught and promoted. New curriculum should focus on helping students manage screen time with in-person social interaction, understand the effects of social media on mental health, and develop self-discipline.
If schools want to prepare students for life beyond the classroom, why not use guidelines to help break bad phone habits while they are still young? Reasonable rules, that allow students to use their phones for academic purposes in class, could encourage healthier, longer-lasting relationships with technology.
When appropriately used, phones can be valuable learning tools. They can help students document bacterial growth in biology, annotate digital poems in English and solve complex integrals in multivariable calculus.
Schools already heavily rely on computers inside and outside of the classroom; on these devices, students can play the same games, get the same texts and browse the same materials they would on the phone. Why restrict one form of technology and deem another worthy of academic use? Phone-specific policy seems more about the image of helping students focus rather than on actually helping their relationship with technology.
This spring semester, some of my fellow senior classmates suggested switching out our phones for cheaper flip phones to promote bonding before we leave for college. While this may seem to contradict my opinion that bans are not the solution to help teens with phone addiction, the key is choice. We’ve learned through our experience that setting our own boundaries can have a positive impact on our lives. Rather than imposing restrictions, we should encourage students to make the right choices on their own, and thus, “deliberately,” as Thoreau proposed, live meaningful lives.
Josie Belfer is a senior at Nueva School in San Mateo. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
I highly and sincerely doubt your teacher is capable of allowing you to experience Thoreau in such a way that it might actually touch your spirit - because you talk about Living Deliberately- yet the first thing you espouse is rules outside of yourself - then you posit to say that these rules will most likely harm you in the long run because your generation are perpetual victims and everyone who has come before you has been an idiot. Henry is rolling over in his grave knowing that his text is being muddled down to social media and rules for the "collective good" and dumping on the past for presents sake. Living Deliberately means stepping outside of society on your own - outside of your college aspirations - outside of the safety of your parents - outside of your learned experiences - outside of all the money you want to make and the faux impact you think you can have on others by thinking this way. Your generation is the mental equivalent of - I want my cake and I will eat it too - but its worse for you and not me because of you. You want the Romanticism of depth and substance without the real struggle - you want to push your limited experience on adults and think you can sit at the same table because your parents say you are so darned speshhal. Living Deliberately means bucking the Status Quo no matter what - breaking barriers you didnt know existed because you really generated a new drum beat instead of following one - its means living for absolute truth regardless of the outcome (yes truth is NOT subjective) - none of you kids know what that means because your parents have failed you. This is why Im writing this. They didn't explain to you that the instant Cell Phones were invented - society started degrading and has only become worse. Every interaction is now a transaction. Your parents aren't able to teach you anything of substance because they are stuck between a place of arrested development and cognitive dissonance - only because they have enough money - their search for true wisdom stopped a long time ago. IMO Social Media Addicts are worse than drug addicts - because you kids do it because you want to - not because you cant help it. That's the big difference. You aren't addicts - you are suffering from Main Character Syndrome. I was a Drugs and Alcohol Counselor at UCSB when I was a Sophomore/Junior - and you have a very messed up version of what "harm reduction" means. This is not about "passing judgment" - its about telling the person in question that their behavior is very dangerous and detrimental to their health - but if they cannot help but engage in self destructive behavior - I will help you mitigate the physical consequences because I care about you as a human being and want you to have the opportunity to be better one day and live to see tomorrow. So when I was at UCSB - on Saturday nights we used to hand out condoms water and information cards for Overdose Help- to everyone at main street intersections. Thats harm reduction - not telling them what they are doing is acceptable. You are Skitzo in your writing - better tighten that up before college. So what is it? Is government regulation the answer or can we trust our fellow Citizens to do the right thing for themselves as our Constitution allows? I bet your entire position flips over when using this rhetoric on the 2nd Amendment. Consistency is the key to any formal communication. Your parents should have told you - you cannot be all things to all people - and thats what you are doing here. Not a good writing tactic. I think you are a very talented writer and have a great developing mind - but you need to get away from your parents albatross method of deductive reasoning. Maybe they are engineers or accountants.
"This spring semester, some of my fellow senior classmates suggested switching out our phones for cheaper flip phones to promote bonding before we leave for college."
I'll dial it back here and try not to be mean.....i truly feel sad for you and your generation - where this is the stuff that resonates with getting "closer" - not going on backpacking trip - not a giant bonfires - not going skydying or some kinda safe reckless bonding experience - not surprising your friends grandma for a birthday party
in the desert. Yall sound like robots. Its hard to witness.
Josie - what seems to be missing from your discussion is the firmer role that parents need to take on. Schools and laws can only go so far. If these kids are allowed this type of indulgence by their parents, and I see many of them in restaurants and stores, no wonder they are addicted. Their parents are no better.
A lot of wisdom in your post. Many moons ago when I taught high school, on the very first day of class, I told every student that whenever they crossed the threshold of our classroom door, their phones were to be switched to silent mode and secured in their own backpacks. Zero problems. How they used their phones before and after school or during breaks was up to them. Yes, we used technology in the classroom, but not for gaming, videos or chatting. Parents, by and large, accepted such policies. Most of my colleagues established similar guidelines.
That was not the situation when I retired from full time teaching and decided to sub in a local high school. The school had a policy about not using phones during class time, but it was unevenly applied. The kids were allowed to take their phones with them outside during PE classes.
Technology does have a place in the classroom, but it has to be supervised by the teacher. Students are not working on their laptops and studying bacterial growth, annotating poetry or solving multivariable calculus problems while stifling smiles and nudging the student sitting next to them to take a look at their laptop screen.
Kids still used their devices in an unapproved manner, but I was not going to be that sexagenarian substitute teacher wrestling with an adult sized older teen over a phone while the other students videoed donnybrook. No, thank you.
Are you thinking about meeting for lunch at Neal's in San Mateo next Thursday at noon?
Hey Ray... I just might. do that, am I invited? I'm not sure I am one of the DJ regular commenters- I don't usually engage in the Jorg/Terrance etc back and forth. But I'm curious about the faces behind the comments and I think I might bring a different energy as a woman lol.
My son is a sophomore at a school that banned cell phones in class this year. It hasn't been a problem, and I think it is a good policy. Teachers have the right to teach without kids being distracted by pulling out phones all the time. Yes, kids can text or go on social media from laptops, but I think those should be limited as well. Of course, California forced kids to learn from screens for 18 months so it is difficult now to put the genie back in the bottle.
As far as kids using phones more at home due to phone-free classes, I have not noticed this to be an issue. Though my son plays 3 sports and has challenging classes and doesn't have much time for social media or video games. So I would suggest to parents to get kids in sports or other after school activities. The real world is more interesting and fun than what is behind a screen.
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(6) comments
I highly and sincerely doubt your teacher is capable of allowing you to experience Thoreau in such a way that it might actually touch your spirit - because you talk about Living Deliberately- yet the first thing you espouse is rules outside of yourself - then you posit to say that these rules will most likely harm you in the long run because your generation are perpetual victims and everyone who has come before you has been an idiot. Henry is rolling over in his grave knowing that his text is being muddled down to social media and rules for the "collective good" and dumping on the past for presents sake. Living Deliberately means stepping outside of society on your own - outside of your college aspirations - outside of the safety of your parents - outside of your learned experiences - outside of all the money you want to make and the faux impact you think you can have on others by thinking this way. Your generation is the mental equivalent of - I want my cake and I will eat it too - but its worse for you and not me because of you. You want the Romanticism of depth and substance without the real struggle - you want to push your limited experience on adults and think you can sit at the same table because your parents say you are so darned speshhal. Living Deliberately means bucking the Status Quo no matter what - breaking barriers you didnt know existed because you really generated a new drum beat instead of following one - its means living for absolute truth regardless of the outcome (yes truth is NOT subjective) - none of you kids know what that means because your parents have failed you. This is why Im writing this. They didn't explain to you that the instant Cell Phones were invented - society started degrading and has only become worse. Every interaction is now a transaction. Your parents aren't able to teach you anything of substance because they are stuck between a place of arrested development and cognitive dissonance - only because they have enough money - their search for true wisdom stopped a long time ago. IMO Social Media Addicts are worse than drug addicts - because you kids do it because you want to - not because you cant help it. That's the big difference. You aren't addicts - you are suffering from Main Character Syndrome. I was a Drugs and Alcohol Counselor at UCSB when I was a Sophomore/Junior - and you have a very messed up version of what "harm reduction" means. This is not about "passing judgment" - its about telling the person in question that their behavior is very dangerous and detrimental to their health - but if they cannot help but engage in self destructive behavior - I will help you mitigate the physical consequences because I care about you as a human being and want you to have the opportunity to be better one day and live to see tomorrow. So when I was at UCSB - on Saturday nights we used to hand out condoms water and information cards for Overdose Help- to everyone at main street intersections. Thats harm reduction - not telling them what they are doing is acceptable. You are Skitzo in your writing - better tighten that up before college. So what is it? Is government regulation the answer or can we trust our fellow Citizens to do the right thing for themselves as our Constitution allows? I bet your entire position flips over when using this rhetoric on the 2nd Amendment. Consistency is the key to any formal communication. Your parents should have told you - you cannot be all things to all people - and thats what you are doing here. Not a good writing tactic. I think you are a very talented writer and have a great developing mind - but you need to get away from your parents albatross method of deductive reasoning. Maybe they are engineers or accountants.
"This spring semester, some of my fellow senior classmates suggested switching out our phones for cheaper flip phones to promote bonding before we leave for college."
I'll dial it back here and try not to be mean.....i truly feel sad for you and your generation - where this is the stuff that resonates with getting "closer" - not going on backpacking trip - not a giant bonfires - not going skydying or some kinda safe reckless bonding experience - not surprising your friends grandma for a birthday party
in the desert. Yall sound like robots. Its hard to witness.
Josie - what seems to be missing from your discussion is the firmer role that parents need to take on. Schools and laws can only go so far. If these kids are allowed this type of indulgence by their parents, and I see many of them in restaurants and stores, no wonder they are addicted. Their parents are no better.
Hey, Michelle
A lot of wisdom in your post. Many moons ago when I taught high school, on the very first day of class, I told every student that whenever they crossed the threshold of our classroom door, their phones were to be switched to silent mode and secured in their own backpacks. Zero problems. How they used their phones before and after school or during breaks was up to them. Yes, we used technology in the classroom, but not for gaming, videos or chatting. Parents, by and large, accepted such policies. Most of my colleagues established similar guidelines.
That was not the situation when I retired from full time teaching and decided to sub in a local high school. The school had a policy about not using phones during class time, but it was unevenly applied. The kids were allowed to take their phones with them outside during PE classes.
Technology does have a place in the classroom, but it has to be supervised by the teacher. Students are not working on their laptops and studying bacterial growth, annotating poetry or solving multivariable calculus problems while stifling smiles and nudging the student sitting next to them to take a look at their laptop screen.
Kids still used their devices in an unapproved manner, but I was not going to be that sexagenarian substitute teacher wrestling with an adult sized older teen over a phone while the other students videoed donnybrook. No, thank you.
Are you thinking about meeting for lunch at Neal's in San Mateo next Thursday at noon?
Hey Ray... I just might. do that, am I invited? I'm not sure I am one of the DJ regular commenters- I don't usually engage in the Jorg/Terrance etc back and forth. But I'm curious about the faces behind the comments and I think I might bring a different energy as a woman lol.
Mark Simon issued an open invitation. It looks like it will be separate checks, but if you can make it, it'll be my treat.
My son is a sophomore at a school that banned cell phones in class this year. It hasn't been a problem, and I think it is a good policy. Teachers have the right to teach without kids being distracted by pulling out phones all the time. Yes, kids can text or go on social media from laptops, but I think those should be limited as well. Of course, California forced kids to learn from screens for 18 months so it is difficult now to put the genie back in the bottle.
As far as kids using phones more at home due to phone-free classes, I have not noticed this to be an issue. Though my son plays 3 sports and has challenging classes and doesn't have much time for social media or video games. So I would suggest to parents to get kids in sports or other after school activities. The real world is more interesting and fun than what is behind a screen.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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