Palatine High School and other District 211 schools have begun to implement a new cell phone policy for the 2024-2025 school year. In an attempt to reduce distractions and improve the learning experience, students are encouraged to place their phones into caddies at the beginning of class each day. 

This policy has elicited mixed responses from students of all ages on having cell phones. 

 “For certain classes, I definitely agree with it,” senior Aeris Czerwinski said. “But other than that, I feel that if you have self-control you should be allowed to have your phone.” 

Some teachers are stricter than others when it comes to enforcing this rule, and a part of this may play into what year in school they teach, and observing how well the students have been doing in class with their phones for the first couple of weeks of school.

“I think the new phone caddies are a great idea, kids are starting to catch on and have begun to accept it without argument,” Doug Gross, an English teacher at Palatine High School who teaches both upperclassmen and underclassmen, said. “They’re making better choices in terms of behavior and academic performance because of the phone caddies.” 

When approaching his senior class, Gross said, “I don’t require them to put away their phones, because they’re seniors and for the most part they’re doing the work I want them to do when I want them to do it. Should that stop being the case, then the phone caddies will be used.”

This rule has never been strictly enforced prior to this year, which has caused many questions and concerns to arise when it comes to what will pass as acceptable and what won’t. 

“In case of an emergency, you won’t be able to be reached by anyone,” said senior Leela Agrawal.

This policy will be fully understood and implemented with time, until then students and staff at District 211 schools will just have to figure it out as they go. More information regarding the district’s cell phone policy can be found on the district’s website at https://adc.d211.org/