Latin’s Upper School introduced a new policy this school year prohibiting the use of cell phones in all academic spaces. Upon entering a classroom, students are now required to place their phones in designated bins, where they will remain for the duration of the class.

“Because [phones] were so easy to access, and [students] just can’t help but check them, we felt it was important to put a clear-cut policy across all classes,” Upper School Director Nick Baer said.

As outlined in Latin’s Student Handbook, “Cell phones are not permitted in classrooms, labs, studios, gyms, or other instructional spaces, and the Wrigley Theatre, unless specifically permitted by a teacher. Cell phones may be confiscated if the device has been used in restricted areas and/or in inappropriate ways.”

Latin’s decision to restrict phone usage mirrors a national trend—more than 77% of U.S. schools say they now prohibit cell phones at school for non-academic use.

​​“In past years, we have noticed that cell phones have led to a distraction for students during class time,” Upper School Assistant Director Karen Horvath said. “A desire to decrease distraction and enhance the classroom experience for our students caused us to consider a change, and in turn, implement the new phone policy within all classrooms.”

Before implementing the policy, administrators considered how students would improve academically by removing phones from the classroom.

“Ideally, students will become more present and academically invested during class time,” Ms. Horvath said. “We are also hoping that students will engage more socially once they are able to realize the positive impact of stepping away from their phone.”

Upper School faculty also held a large role in the establishment of the phone ban, with the majority in favor of instituting a restrictive policy. “Faculty have been helpful in sharing their firsthand experiences with cell phone use in the classroom,” Ms. Horvath said. “Their feedback has served an integral role in deciding what policy is the best fit.”

Before this school year, the Upper School administration noticed that faculty were hesitant to institute phone policies in their individual classes, so as to not be viewed negatively by students. “For some teachers, they don’t feel as comfortable creating a policy in their room that is so different than many other teachers, so oftentimes it’s really helpful to have a broader policy that they can just feel comfortable in,” Mr. Baer said.

Senior Ajay Singh said, “I think the intention [of the policy] is good—a lot of kids do use their phones and not pay attention. At a point, [phone usage] just got out of scale and I think that the policy that they have will help, but also does have some negative side effects. It’s more so a positive because kids need to learn self-control to not use their phones 24/7.”

Each time someone checks their phone, the brain releases a small amount of dopamine—a chemical that drives action and response to stimulants, such as notifications, vibrations, or sounds. However, this dopamine boost is fleeting, often leaving the brain unsatisfied and craving more. This triggers a cycle of constantly reaching for phones and leads to student distraction.

The phone policy was instituted not only to curb this behavior, but to limit the academic, mental, and social drawbacks that phone usage has been proven to cause.

“There is a ton of research out there in regard to smartphone use and student well-being,” Ms. Horvath said. “Particularly in regard to the use of cell phones in schools, we feel our policy aligns with this research in that it completely removes the opportunity to become distracted by cell phones during class time.”

Mr. Baer echoed this sentiment. “Especially in the last year, there’s been so much news and research done on what the effects of smartphone use and screen time have on all people, but especially students,” he said.

The research does, in fact, back the concerns expressed by the Upper School administration.

“Increased social media use [displaces] activities, such as sleep, that are known to have a positive impact on adolescent health,” Upper School Counselor Jane Knoche said. “As mobile use increases, sleep hygiene decreases, which leads to lower self-esteem, fewer coping strategies, and more externalizing behavior.”

Neglecting tasks by distracting the brain with dopamine from a phone is mistakenly associated with multitasking. “If you’re on your phone, you cannot be doing two things at once. If you’re on your phone, you’re not listening to your friends or paying attention to your class,” Ms. Knoche said.

As student habits continue to evolve, the administration will continue to assess and refine the phone policy to ensure it remains effective and relevant to Latin’s learning environment.

“It’s important to try things, to tweak things based on feedback— teacher feedback, parent/guardian feedback, and student feedback, too,” Mr. Baer said.

Concerns about the negative impact of phone use have also influenced other institutions to make policy decisions—in some cases, more restrictive than Latin’s new policy. According to the CPS Student Code of Conduct, “Unless approved by the principal, cellular phones and other information technology devices are not allowed at school.”

“The school considered and reviewed the policies of other schools,” Ms. Horvath said. “It was not uncommon to find policies that were considered more strict than our current policy. However, we feel this is the best fit in terms of decreasing the level of distractions within the classroom and the open campus format of the Upper School.”

The practice of a governing body restricting phone usage isn’t new to the American school system. In 2024, a Florida law took effect that requires all Florida public schools to ban student cell phone use during class time and block access to social media on district Wi-Fi. Additionally, some districts, including Orange County Public Schools, went further and banned phones the entire school day.

Mr. Baer said he feels confident, though, in Latin’s decision to prohibit phone use only during instructional periods. “Some schools are of course going more extreme, where you drop your phone off at the start of the day, or you put it in the locked pouch, and we did consider things like that,” he said. “At this point, we feel like this is the best step for us.”