From the first day of school, some students have been protesting the cell phone ban, expressing their concerns, and even sneaking their phones during school. Students have also found positives from the ban, but dTHS has remained strict on their policy.
In a schoolwide email, dTHS said the two main goals of banning phones indefinitely during school hours, which is identical to the policy at all LAUSD schools, is to “emphasize the value of being focused and present while on campus” and “realize the benefits of learning and community.”
dTHS students responded to a poll sent out by the Prowler about their opinions on the policy, and the findings show an overall negative attitude, but there are some positive outlooks.
Poll Responses
60% of students said that before the year they were against the cell phone policy, while 28% were in the middle, and 12% were in favor.
A majority of students were originally against the policy.
As a dTHS student said, “It’s so hard to keep track of time, make sure you’re at class on time, and stay on top of certain things without phone use.”
Many students agreed, saying they miss the convenience of phones.
After experiencing the ban during school hours, 39% of students said they dislike the policy after experiencing it for a couple of weeks, and an additional 29% of students don’t mind the policy, but noticed more negatives than positives.
Avery E. (‘27) said it is “harder to contact friends, teachers, parents, and clubs.”
This seemed to be one of the most popular complaints amongst respondents, as another student “[doesn’t] understand how dTHS expects us to check G-chat [sic] and emails” because “we barely have computers in class anymore.”
Even in cases where computers are available in class, teachers are strict about students staying on the specific task at hand.
Students still expressed their concerns about real-time issues, such as “not being able to find a teacher” and the inability “to contact freshman peer mentors.”
A recent dTHS email that aimed to resolve some of these issues said parents should let students know situations such as their lunch, pickup, and changes to students’ regular schedule before school.
23% of students said the positives of the cell phone ban outweighed the negatives, and an additional 8% of students see little to no negatives from the ban (see above pie chart).
When asked if the ban achieved the goal of “realizing the benefits of community,” 62% of dTHS students said they had seen at least some increase in connectivity.
Mylee S. (‘29) said, “I can connect with my peers more,” and Connor R. (‘28) said, “there is more socializing during free periods.”
It is promising to see the ban has improved school social-settings, which was an issue targeted by the phone ban.
The second main goal of the ban, “being focused and present while on campus,” was only touched on by some respondents in comments.
A student said, “it has increased focus overall,” and a 12th grader said they’re “more productive… [during their] free, bonus, and lunch periods.”
Moshe L. (‘27) “acknowledged the lack of ‘doomscrolling,” especially “while people are sitting with their friends.”
Taking away a device used for procrastination seemed to help with focus.
Moshe L. noticed phones are usually replaced by students being on their laptops, saying, “the policy has caused an overreliance on laptops.”
Robbie S. (‘26) finds it inconvenient needing to check your laptop for your schedule between periods.
Whether dTHS’s cell phone policy helped students be more focused on campus evidently varied person-to-person.
This was the case for everything about the cell phone policy as all of the main points of the policy produced mixed opinions, but dTHS will continue to encourage students to realize the benefits that come with a phone-free campus.
