Discussing the Oregon cell-phone ban

Governor Tina Kotek has imposed a cell-phone ban in Oregon schools. “Oregon’s schools should be a place where students find belonging, support, and the joy of learning something new,” said Kotek, who, in my opinion, is correct. School is a place to learn and grow. It’s where we gain the basic skills we need for adult life. For this reason, she has introduced this cell-phone policy in schools. However, there may be flaws in this system.

According to an article published by Oregon.gov, the Governor’s primary goal was “delivering a high-quality public education and protecting Oregon’s young learners’ safety, health, and well-being.” These are good goals - things we absolutely need in schools - but one concern many people may have is, of course, the safety of students.

As I mentioned earlier, school is about learning new things. That is why I believe we should be learning self-control. Students need the opportunity to develop it. They should learn when it is or isn’t appropriate to use their phones. If phones are simply taken away and locked in the office, students never get the chance to practice self-control.

School is a place for education, just as Governor Kotek has said. Part of that education should be learning discipline. It’s better to learn it now than when we are adults. We can also see benefits to not having phones in lunchrooms. Looking back at the 80s, 90s, or even the early 2000s, we connected more. We don't look at our TV shows; instead, we interact. We should live in a social society. We are a generation that is trying to build its social group up, especially after the pandemic.

As the article stated, “allowing students to be fully engaged in the act of learning and in their school community” is healthy. Of course, removing phones will not solve every problem. Bullying, slurs, and violence existed before technology, and they will still exist without it. We just won’t see it. A school without phones is a powerful way to help students be great. There are pros and cons. Next week, I will talk about the cons of the cell-phone ban in schools.