Over the past twenty years, technology has been advancing and slowly starting to affect school districts nationwide. Recently, teachers and students in the Ramapo-Indian Hills district have been affected by this as well, due to the New Jersey Department of Education’s August 2024 statement. The statement claimed that it is up to each district to decide whether to put a phone ban in place or limit phone usage in schools. In response, this past September, when Ramapo-Indian Hills opened its doors once again for the start of the year, all teacher’s syllabi introduced their own cell phone policies. Now, some policies are stricter than usual, while others are more lenient when it comes to using your phone for music, calculators, or other educational purposes. While these policy changes have not been addressed all that clearly since their introductions, both the IHHS staff and students are inherently affected by these reforms.
One of the leading demographics that the changing cell phone policy can impact are the teachers and staff at Indian Hills. Ms. Archer, an English teacher at Indian Hills, stated that “Cell phones in the classroom are very distracting” and that “it’s good to have a break from using them.” While Ms. Archer saw the positives in this policy and felt the changes were beneficial, Mrs. Cananaco, a Physical Science teacher, claimed, “It can be useful to use cell phones to a certain extent.” She agreed, however, with Ms. Archer, saying, “There is a time and place for where your cell phone should be.” Ms. Liebau, a History teacher at Indian Hills, shares the sentiment, stating that she “would be for a phone ban, but the school should allow cell phones to be used only during lunch periods, and if there were ever an emergency students should be able to have easy quick access to their cell phones.”
Aside from Indian Hills teachers, the students of the school, too, can be affected by this policy change. While the staff members notice the benefits of this policy, the students do not necessarily see the ban in such a positive light. Senior Tristan Casella, the student council president, stated, “I think the ban on cell phones seen in many districts nationwide is a strict measure that seems to help curb significant distractions in a classroom setting. However, I believe that the opinion of a cell phone usage restriction should be on a student-teacher basis. I, personally, have not noticed distractions in a class setting, therefore, [I] do not have much to say on the application of or implementation of policies seen on a district/high school level.”
The relevance of the cell phone issue is affecting both Ramapo and Indian Hills buildings, be it through the staff or the students of the sister schools. The new cell phone policy at RIH impacts the staff the most since teachers are trying to teach their students and prepare them for the real world, and oftentimes students will just be on their phones instead. This is not fair to teachers, and it’s also not fair to the students, as some may need to listen to music to pay attention in class and stay focused. To be fairer, the school district may have to revise their policies to increase representation of not just parents, but students and staff members too.
