Thousands upon thousands of teenagers in high schools all through the nation have problems that need to be solved in school. From vaping and drug addictions to limited supplies, the list goes on and on. However, these are not important problems for New York City Public Schools. Instead, they would rather "solve" the problem of phones being used in classrooms. My school recently sent out an email to all the students stating, "In accordance with New York State law... beginning in the 2025–26 school year, students in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) will no longer be allowed to use personal internet-enabled devices on school property during school hours. " This solution to the use of phones in classrooms is not only unnecessary, but it also negatively affects the students in schools were this law has been put into action.

 As many teachers and students are familiar with, there was already an action done in schools to prevent kids from using their phones during class time. Phone pockets were out in every classroom and every student was required to place their phones in at the beginning of class. They could then retrieve their phones at the very end of class. This helped reduce the amount of distractions in the classroom and even acted as a way to take attendance, making compliance to the rules even more necessary. So, technically, the problem has already been solved. However, Public Schools have decided to kick things up a notch by banning phones in the school setting altogether, even during free periods and lunch. This decision only causes more problems for fellow students like me for a number of reasons. 

First of all, free periods during school and lunchtime are one of the only times when students can wind down from the stress of high school work and pressure. It's also a great time to finish homework, which is mostly online and must be done on a computer or cellphone. Especially for people who live far away from school or have after school programs, coming home at very late times leaves little room to finish work without staying up until 3 am or isolating themselves from their families to focus on work. But now, the opportunity to finish work in school has been stripped away with this law. The ability to relax with music, videos, or games has been stripped away. I completely understand not being able to have phones in class, students should have every opportunity to focus solely on their education. However, taking away our devise in our time for leisure is taking it too far. This isn't even the biggest problem facing our schools today.

As I've already mentioned, there are many different problems that students are facing in school everyday. One that's especially important to focus on is the increase of vaping and drug use in schools. There are children skipping class to go to the bathrooms or gym in order to vape together. Kids passing different drugs to each other and finding new ways to be discreet with them. One could say that this is one of the biggest issues that must be solved in public schools. Not only are teenagers slowly killing themselves and growing addictions, but they are also taking time away from their learning by skipping class in order to do these things. What makes all this even more horrifying is that the adults are well aware of what the students are doing. Hall monitors stand outside the bathrooms to keep the students in check, and can see, or at least smell, these students smoking weed and vaping. However, nothing significant has been done in order to fix this issue. I understand that it's a hard problem to solve and would take lots of work, but that is exactly why something must be done about it. Schools SHOULD be fighting and working hard for their students and the wellbeing of everyone. By focusing on such a small issue as cellphones instead of this larger issue, public schools are beginning to raise questions about whether they really care about the students.

One more problem I want to mention is unfortunately one that affects all students in America right now. School shootings have become something that every student, parent, and teacher has to fear. Just recently, a Catholic school in Minnesota experienced a shooting that resulted in the death of two young children and many more injured people. Forget entertainment, phones act as a way to get in contact with loved ones quickly and easily. However, due to this new law, we won't even be able to call our guardians in case of emergencies. Instead, the school will provide one phone number that all parents can call in case they need to contact their child in an emergency. They will also be given a second phone number to call for non emergencies. Basically, if we absolutely need to call our parents and want to keep our situation private, we can't. If there is an emergency that requires all students contacting someone in order to get attention, we won't be able to do so. If there is ever a situation in school where I want to say goodbye to my loved ones, I won't be able to reach them. Schools can't deny that this is a serious fear that everyone has nowadays. We have drills constantly to prepare us for days where our lives might be at stake. At the same time, they're telling us that contacting our guardians by ourselves is completely out of the question. In the day and age we live in, we should be able to get in touch with our loved ones whenever we want for whatever reason.

I don't know if anyone will read this or even give it a second thought. I am aware that I've probably written way too much and the average person would be bored within the first 5 sentences. As I'm writing this, a family member has told me that I can't change people or what they do. But this is a serious issue that I believe is completely ridiculous and must be brought up by someone. I've voiced my thoughts, let all my anger out, and I know at least one of you agrees with me at least a little bit. TLDR, the new phone law is dumb and I'm not following it. Keep safe and God bless everyone. ❤️