With the 2025-2026 school year coming to an end, our school can make many changes to encourage good behavior. The administration can reward students with phones, a usual restriction during school hours.
Last year, the school prohibited students from using phones during school hours. The administration introduced Yondr pouches to lock the phones permanently unless unlocked with a magnet at the school’s entrance.
What if students could potentially earn back a day with their phone?
When teachers see a student do something that represents one of our core virtues, they could allow them to bring their phones in one day. They would hand in a slip saying they have permission, and they would have their phone for the school day. The school could use this method to promote good virtues outside of school, such as the student section’s good behavior at away games or showing some sort of class on the field. This system will reward students when they represent Haverford well.
“I think it would be a good incentive, but I don’t think that good behavior means students can be responsible with phone use,” Liam Jones ’29 said.
With this new privilege installed, students could learn how to be more responsible with using their phones, so that they can challenge their need to use technology. Students could also be more motivated to perform at a higher level. Returning phones could also be seen as a sign of trust between students and teachers.
Admittedly, this reward could come with downsides. Having phones could distract students from doing real work. Between games, social media, and artificial intelligence, there are many ways that someone could potentially get sidetracked. And even with this rule, students should already try their hardest to stay motivated.
“Our phone policy should be used to engage students with each other and in class. So using this method could ruin some of the energy,” said chemistry teacher Mr. Will Leech.
To fix these negative possibilities, phone usage could only be allowed during free periods or study halls. If one’s phone is too loud or is disturbing another teacher’s class, it could be taken away from that student, and they could retrieve their phone by the end of the school day.
Students and teachers could have similar outlooks on this rule. It could be a fun idea, but it would be difficult to actually incorporate it into the community. It could improve the current status of the school, or it could ruin the energy at our school.