Students should be allowed to use cell phones during lunch

By Alma M.

It's hard beginning in school for five days of the week and more than eight hours of being in school. While you're at school you have no connection out into the world. If your phone is put up in your book bag all day you'll need a break here and there. Last year in compliance with a law proposed by state school superintendent Ellen Weaver, my school, Airport High School, banned privileges of full use of any electronic from 8:25 to 3:35, and when people started hearing these some people were arguing over way these was good for the school or bad for the school there were so many mixed emotions and thoughts over the new law. I personally believe that phones should at least be allowed during lunch again so we have that 20-30 minutes to ourselves and not just school work. 

The first reason why phones should be allowed during lunch is because students are in school for longer than 8 hours and in those 8 hours all day we have to be doing work for 8 hours straight without any breaks to get our minds on other things than school work. According to The Longfellow Lead there are people proposing that being able to use phones during designated times is, in fact, a good idea. Lunch and recess are good times for students to de-stress and calm down, and sometimes just going on your phone for 5-15 minutes can help with that. For example students get bored when they run out of conversations with their friends. Lunch time is a student's break time and students should be allowed to have their devices out since at lunch they are not in class so there's no form of distraction at lunch time. So students should enjoy their break as best as they can to get their mental thoughts together. 

My second reason is students will be less sneaky. Let’s be real, kids get on their phones behind teachers back anyway and it creates a culture of sneakiness and dishonesty. Furthermore, research supports that these sneaky little breaks actually correlate with better academic performance. According to Forbes, some students were given either one-, two- or four-minute technology breaks during class when they could use their devices, while control groups were given equally long question breaks during which phone use wasn’t permitted, but students were encouraged to ask questions. Students who were given phone breaks were more attentive during class and scored higher grades on quizzes than the control group did. For example, on a daily basis there are students who decide to sneak their phones during the school day but suffer consequences by deciding to take these actions. Students find it best when having some time on their own that doesn't involve quizzes, worksheets or reading. It helps them better to not stress all day about work but have a moment to themselves. 

My last reason is that phones provide socialization and a chance to pursue personal interest.  According to minga phone time into the classroom environment, it serves to teach students digital boundaries and enforces a positive screen time limit that will follow students off campus. Managing student behavior through the creation of this boundary for situational cell phone use helps establish designated phone use on campus, encouraging students to live a life where their phone is a tool they are not dependent on. An example for these reasons is students use phones for multiple reasons. They use it to know what's going on outside of school and in school since schools have their own social media page to keep students on track for events going on that week or coming up or any information over all. Phones aren’t bad overall and students use them most when needed to know something. 

There's going to be tons of people who disagree with my opinion, especially teachers and administrators. Schools would argue that students would get distracted with their devices by them using them during class. They would also argue over the fact that because of their phones and social media it would be the reason why so many fights would happen during the school day. I say phones aren’t necessarily the problem in these occasions. It is the time spent on school work and having to worry about getting it completed. Most students at school do activities after school and would barely have any time to be on their devices. There would be school days where I had activities after school and it was tiring being at school for 8 hours then having to go home get ready and go to my activities and stay there till 9 and barely have any time to take a break or most importantly to myself. So phone breaks are very good and helpful to students to have their little breaks during school before continuing with the rest of the day.

I interviewed Mrs.White, a librarian at my school, to get another thought on why students should be allowed to use cell phones during lunch and she stated, “The phone issue is a very convoluted one. I guess what it comes down to for me is that if students were at least allowed to check phones during specific parts of the school day, I would hope it would make it a bit easier to focus during class without constantly wanting to check. In other words, if students knew they'd be able to check phones at lunch without penalty, for example, then they would have much less of an excuse for using it during classes. It would also allow students the opportunity to communicate about after school ride plans, practices, and/or other matters that they might need to contact their families or jobs about during the school day without worrying about repercussions or consequences.” 

Another person I interviewed was Mrs. Brown who is a teacher at my school and these were her thoughts on my topic. She said, “Phones should be allowed because students are in relaxation mode after the stress of enduring classes all morning long, so giving them a break at that time would help them relax. While there is the danger of students misusing the phone, which is what authorities are cautious about, giving them this brief time to unwind could do more harm than good.”

In conclusion, phones are very helpful in many ways and are always needed at all times. You never know when you might need to check up for any updates on what is going on in the world. Students don’t last very long doing their work before they try to sneak them in during class. I'd say it's better for them to get breaks where they can relax for a moment and focus on other things but work. This is also a better way for teachers and students not to go through the right ups and consequences but would work out for students because they would finally have a moment of peace to themselves from a long school day.