With the start of the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, students are faced with new policies that have been implemented: ID requirements, hall zones for bathroom passes and significantly, the added schoolwide cell phone policy.

Welcome letters through emails were sent to all parents to emphasize the importance and gravity of cell phone usage in a class setting. This policy entails different tiers of consequences if students fail to put their phones away in a classroom environment or continue to abuse their screen time.

Violating the policy could result in confiscation of the devices, dean referrals, in-school suspension and several more courses of action.

Teachers and students in the building have mixed feelings on this matter.

“I personally gotta say I like it only because it gives a good guide for students and for teachers,” Science Department Educator, Anthony Campos, said, “Normally, I was fine with it before because my students did a really nice job of respecting the classroom. But I think for the school, it’s going to be a good thing.”

“I don’t think it’s helpful just because there are some times where like, you could need a phone for some reason,” Delilah Rodriguez (10) said.

Students may argue that in case of an emergency, cell phones should be deemed necessary.

“You’re not going to see if your mom is calling you or your parents you know, and if there’s something already going on at home before you come to school,” Rodriguez said.

Some students, like freshman Ruth Girma, may not have a voice in this matter as they weren’t instructed to do so by teachers who were unable to relay this information to them in advance. Nonetheless, the high school rules don’t seem too far off the previous middle school requirements that were placed prior.

“I went to Sky Vista [Middle School],” Girma said, “It was just ‘keep your phone in your backpack.’ If they see it, they take it. They would take [the phone] to the deans and then you would get it back at the end of the day.”

It is still to be decided if the addition of the cell phone policy will truly be effective for students and staff while learning and interacting with others in classes. Whether the school community has already experienced policies similar to the ones recently added at Smoky or not, a wide array of voices rise to the occasion.