On August 1, Mount Greylock Regional School published a revised phone policy, which states that devices must “remain off and away” during classes. According to school principal Jacob Schutz, this is really “not a new phone policy at all. It’s a practice in implementation.” The policy is simply now “more uniform across the school.”

While teachers used to be able to determine their own classroom’s phone policy independent of any school-wide policy, high school students are now required to put their phones away (either in backpacks or in a communal holder) for all classes. The middle school policy requires students to leave their phones in their lockers or in the classroom holders, not in their backpacks.

If a student violates the policy, teachers will give a warning. If the infraction continues, the offending student could receive “an office referral and disciplinary action,” according to the published policy, which can be found on the Mount Greylock website.

Not everyone agrees with the new policy. Eighth Graders Luis Pabon and Henry Wall said students should be allowed to take notes on their phones if they can do so responsibly, and that phones could be an asset in learning for those that can handle them well.

While phones can be used to enhance learning, some teachers point out phones can also be a major distraction from learning in the classroom and interacting with peers. Middle school social studies teacher Mary MacDonald said, “while some kids have their phones at school so that they can communicate with their families, some of them just have it because it’s the thing to have, even if they don’t really use it for any kind of purpose beyond entertainment.” She has found that she is always reminding students to “park their phones” when they enter the classroom, although she thought that doing so would quickly become an ingrained habit. 

Mount Greylock isn’t alone in enforcing revised phone policies. While the district elementary schools don’t allow phones out at any point in the day, several neighboring middle and high schools in the county are employing stricter measures. McCann Technical School has implemented the use of Yondr Pouches to achieve a “cell free” school. Students are required to put their phones in these pouches every morning, making their phones inaccessible for the entirety of the day.

While Mount Greylock students and teachers noted the value in allowing students to communicate with their parents during passing periods, several expressed regret that students are allowed their phones during lunch. MacDonald said, “I sort of wish they weren’t looking at their phones so much during lunch, and I wish that kids were talking to one another…and actually communicating face to face. But I know they are doing that in my class. I think that’s a starting point, and the impacts are positive.”