You sit in class, but your hands are busy playing the new game on your phone. All of a sudden, you hear the word “test!” But how do you prepare, if all you learned in class today was how to beat the new level in your game? 

The purpose of RM’s phone policy is to prevent these situations–students are expected to keep their phones in their bags during instructional time, and a failure to do so results in progressive consequences. 

However, many don’t follow this policy, and some teachers don’t enforce it either. 

“I feel like students are not following the phone policy and teachers are also starting to not care when the school year starts to pass,” freshman Jessica Yao said. “If you don’t understand what is being taught and you still use your phone during class, then that’s your problem.”

Many students believe that the phone policy is too strict, and others just do not care about it at all. 

“I didn’t expect the teachers to care about it so much,” freshman Annette Ryu said. 

Though phones may pose as a distraction, it can also be beneficial to use it in class.

“If you understand the material, you could use your phone to learn something new. It also depends on the situation—if it’s during science, sometimes I need a timer, so it is very convenient to use my phone,” Yao said.

Though the phone policy may seem annoying to some freshmen, it is still a big improvement from middle school. 

“In my middle school, teachers were really strict about it. At least it is a tiny bit looser here in high school,” freshman Chloe Kennedy said.