Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has put his power to use in schools all over Virginia. From our very own Hidden Valley High School to Richmond, the Shenendoah in the west, and the Chesapeake coast in the east, he intends to completely ban cell phones, with little room for leniency.
This policy has already been implemented, but there will be an update to it. At the beginning of this year, cell-phone usage was strictly prohibited during class blocks. Going into second semester, what is considered recreational time – such as between classes or lunch breaks – will be subject to these policies. Already, this change has been met with opposition from students, but is it for good reason? How do we adapt to a big change like this?
On July 9th, 2024, Youngkin issued Executive Order 33 to prohibit all usage of cellphones. The policy is notorious for its offenses, which holds students to harsh consequences. One offense warrants a day of detention and a call home. It escalates gradually, but by the fifth offense, the student must surrender their phone to the office for the rest of the year. An offense can be gained as easily as possessing a phone or earbuds if they are not stowed away. Why exactly are the consequences this harsh?
The answer is in the motive: prevention. The offenses are not to strike a horrible vengeance against a student for their cellphone related crimes, but to prevent students from considering taking out their cellphones in the first place. It is a simple psychological maneuver: if one regards the consequences of an action to be detrimental to them, then they will avoid that action. It becomes complicated to determine when and for what a cellphone should or should not be used for, especially in the context of school, making it easier to ban them outright.
“For elementary school kids, I think a ban is appropriate. They should not be using cellphones. Middle school kids too, though it is not the biggest deal. On the high school level, though, having cellphones just being blanket banned is infantilizing. It implies they do not trust us. I think having them being prohibited during lecture would be appropriate, as it is respectful. I would not be bothered by that restriction. However, clubs, sports, marching band, and other activities that require communication outside of school rely on cellphones. This ban is simply annoying.” Says Julia Pearce (11), representing a largely held opinion of the student body.
There concludes the elephant in the room. Except, it simply is not fair to antagonize Virginia’s governing body. There is a reason that experts have worked to bring this legislation here, whether it is perceived with reproach or not.
The digital age inevitably comes with many firsts; it is a frontier to exploit the inexperienced, such as impressionable students. There is even a myth that modern-day humans have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. Studies suggest that the average human attention span has decreased from 12 to 8 seconds. This information originated from a one-time, controversial study done by Microsoft. Ultimately, our attention span is not growing shorter. Marketing ploys, enforced by the data-sucking internet algorithm, have become the near perfect agents of distraction.
Bo Burnham, a comedian who got his crowd due to social media, put it better than anyone: “We used to colonize land, that was the thing we could expand into, and that’s where money was to be made. We colonized the entire Earth. There was no other place for businesses and capitalism to expand into. Until they realized: human attention. They are trying to colonize every minute of your life.”
The phone policies implemented derives itself from these issues. With mental health also being a concern, parents and legislators have pushed for the passing of these rules. Some of these rigid phone policies are the necessary growing pains of modern society. With all this in mind, what we can take away from these developments is that it is a hard transition.
When the next iteration of Executive 33 arrives, including the loss of cell phones at lunch, it will be another tough transition; however, we can still enjoy our breaks, just in a different manner.
The extremes of this policy could also be temporary. Over the years, adjustments are made depending on what is needed.
“I see some benefits from this policy. I do think that some people are paying more attention and getting more work done because they do not have access to their cellphones, but I also think they will do alterations to the cellphone policy. Hopefully, a little less strict?” Maya Rhee (11) says.
Until then, students can make the best of their situation. Except for the earbuds. We must reclaim justice for the earbuds! Vive la révolution!
