On August 13th, 2025, an email was issued to the Upper School to update for the month of August. Hidden halfway down in the email was the new ‘Personal Device Policy.’ Effectively, the Harley School — although it is a private institution — is attempting to copy the effects of NY Governor Kathy Hochul’s public ban on phones in high school. However, this ban includes tablets, smart watches, and all forms of wireless headphones. Most concerningly, it bans OTHER electronic accessories, giving them power over devices that can affect the well being of students.   It is a fact that social media is a negative effect on all our lives, but that is not the reason for the implementation of this effect. If the true goal was to improve mental health and focus of students, this new proposition would be focused on how to permanently subdue social media. Instead, we are being denied certain aspects of our voice, as a phone can be an outlet to speak freely. Making such a drastic change in the lives of teens today is unwise. People use their phones to write — that’s where I’m writing this statement — but is there a pen and paper in every room you walk into? People use their phones to calm down, is there a quiet space, headphones, or music in every room you walk into? People use their phones to communicate urgently, will there be a landline phone in every room you walk into? Will there be one in the room of who you’re calling? Cell phones are a relatively new stage of technology, why are we attempting to deny it entirely? If we were to learn from the past, we would let technology help us grow, not refuse everything we don’t know.  One of the biggest success factors in these “bell-to-bell” phone bans is student support. A success story in phone banning is in the south Bronx.  One of the United Charter High Schools used Yondr Pouches to lock phones up for the day. Positive differences were discovered, but it was only because the students were willing to try it. Now, to note some differences in policy and school, the south Bronx school in question serves about 3000 people in high school alone, while the Harley school serves about 500 in nursery through 12th grade education, not to mention the public / private difference. Also, these pouches used in south Bronx allowed students to keep their phones on them, so they could access it in case of a true emergency, rather than the proposed strategy of phone lockers by Harley. Lastly, the Harley School is a community with more diversity in terms of mental health. Not to any fault of their own, but I would say 90% of my friends are diagnosed with a mental illness. The Harley School’s motto is ‘Become What Thou Art,’ and that’s what students like my friends came here to do. They come to the Harley School so that their needs can be met and their accommodations given greater attention to than in a public school. This policy is taking away from a key guideline of the school. (source: https://www.bxtimes.com/cell-phone-ban/  Phones are viewed as an addiction or a distraction in our modern age, but they can be so much more. 95% of U.S. teens have access to a cell phone, so why deny them the ability to further their experience by using it? The Harley School is a college preparatory school, and phones are commonly used for communication and outreach at college, so we should be comfortable with using them in a learning environment. Even after college, 83% of employees in a workplace have access to and use their phones in their environment. To truly prepare us for our modern world, a personal device is a necessity. (source: https://www.sparxservices.org/blog/benefits-of-phones-in-school-for-students This decision claims to be geared towards the mental health of teenagers, but if we take a pause, think about who was involved in making this decision. Purely “Faculty” made this decision, quoting the email. This fact shows, given that this implementation was announced one month before school begins, although they have been discussing it “throughout the summer.” Without student feedback, this proposition lacks support from its community. Lastly, when I hear of this change, I think of one thing, the attempted switch from Schoology to Blackbaud two years ago. Without much warning, it was announced that we would be changing our school’s online system for assignments, grades, and scheduling, although there were no glaring problems with. However, we brought up our grievances with this change, and we stayed on Schoology, but kept scheduling on blackbaud. They are again attempting to implement a full change, and we must remember what we did then and use it now. The time to act is now before the school year begins and this policy starts, and this petition is the beginning. To all the Upper School Administration, our personal device policy requires change, such that we can use our phones & personal devices as tools, not distractions.