Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in editorials are those of the writer(s). These views may not represent those of the adviser; of the Trail staff as a whole; of the Trail’s advertisers; of the administration, faculty or staff of McIntosh High School; of Fayette County Public Schools or of the FCBOE School Board members.

House Bill 1009 “as to require local school systems and public schools to enact policies and procedures for use of personal electronic devices at school and school sponsored events by students in grades nine through twelve; to revise provisions relative to permissible student use of personal electronic devices; to revise a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes,” as stated on the Georgia General Assembly website, giving schools the ability to implement a “Bell to Bell” electronics ban that will be active next school year.

Having my phone is a small comfort to both me and those I love in the event that I don’t come home. 

I had first found out from my sister that they had found bullets in the bathroom but nobody knew anything else. I was sitting in the media centre with my best friend and we both were texting everyone we knew about what information was available because we were scared. We were scared that we wouldn’t go home that night. We were both able to get checked out because we were able to text our parents and fill them in when the school didn’t.

School shootings are a severe problem in American schools, just this year we have had many threats of that happening in our own school. During these threats, my friends and I would ponder what we would do and all of our plans involved having access to our phones to be able to text and/or call our loved ones to tell them what happened and that we love them. Taking away phones ruins that small comfort that we have, it’ll just leave family and friends of the victims wondering what their child’s last words to them would be. Taking away phones will take away that person’s ability to have a last word.

The fact that the House Bill 1009 will completely ban phones from “Bell to Bell” can impose a sense of fear during code red (lockdown) drill, causing students to genuinely panic especially if it is a surprise drill. Even when knowing that the lockdown is just a drill, feelings of anxiety can often happen. In the world we live in today, school shootings are a frequent thought on my mind. It happens way too often. Not only in these events could this bill potentially cause panic and fear within students, but if ever a real school shooting were to take place, how would the admin and front office deal with parents? As soon as word gets out, I know without a doubt, panicked parents would flood the school admin’s emails and potentially even come to the school. The real question is, how are schools planning to keep parents updated and students safe?

Taking phones would limit the amount of information going to the student body during these tragedies, even during the threats we had this year people used their phones to pass along information about what was happening when nobody would know otherwise. Some may say that the school or teachers will communicate what’s happening but when they don’t even know what’s happening it can be left up to the students to piece it together. The people responsible for distributing information may withhold some to try and not cause a panic, we know this doesn’t work because of what happened when they found bullets in the bathroom. When they found bullets in the bathroom everyone was rushing to the office to leave because nobody knew if it was safe or not causing an even worse scenario than if they just told people what was going on. During an actual event not having my phone on me could leave me out of the know of ways to get out or if there is a safe place to go.

When something important, significant or dangerous happens, I always want to contact my parents first. If a school shooting were to ever take place, and my phone was not somewhere I could get to in order to contact my parents, I would be so terrified. In many incidents regarding school shootings, a student was able to call 911 before anyone else. Examples being the 2024 Wisconsin school shooting and 2022 Robb Elementary School in Texas. The fact that these students were able to call 911, inform them of the shooter in the school and give the police vital information on the whereabouts of the shooter, was due to having access to their phone, and without the time it takes the police to get to a school would be higher, further leaving students in that deadly situation for longer.

Some may make the argument that classrooms have phones too, however when students are able to make the call to 911, they can provide better information on who the shooter could be and where they are. Students can easily communicate with their friends in other classes and share information on not only the shooter, but potential victims and those who have been injured and where they are.

It’s not even just school shootings, even just mundane life causes me to need contact with my parents. Little personal problems shouldn’t be the school’s problem to deal with. People rely on their phones to discuss plans for getting home and informing parents and guardians if they are going somewhere different or a change of plans that needs to be handled immediately. My sister normally drives me home but occasionally she has to go home early or she has a band practice nobody knew about, without my phone I would be unable to plan accordingly and get stuck at the school. Removing phones entirely from schools makes the office deal with so many new and small problems that can be handled easily by the student themself but must now go through a third party just to know if they are taking the bus home or not. And what if there’s an emergency at home? I would want to hear it from my family first before the office. Or what if a student has sensitive information? Whether it is medical for them or if there is a death in the family, it should go directly from their parent to the student. 

Having a phone with me increases communication, therefore safety. Taking away phones from schools takes away student’s ability to contact the outside world in mundane life but also in an emergency. In the end, schools aren’t safe enough to take away phones.

When phones are banned in schools, I feel like it’ll create another thing for teachers to take care of. Between hallway duty and lesson planning, teachers already have enough on their plate. 

Having the phones hanging in the back of the classroom is already effective, with teachers agreeing that they’ve helped in the classroom.

“I think that McIntosh has done a pretty good job with the cubbies. That’s worked for my classrooms pretty well,” Jane Edwards, a McIntosh English teacher said.

Since some teachers think that the system that’s already in place is effective, why are there further steps being taken to completely ban phones? The phone ban feels unnecessary when the phone pockets in the back of the classroom are already helping with the amount of screens in the classroom. If teachers start to be more strict about putting phones in the back, I feel like that would be a better solution than banning phones. Also, banning phones from being used in the hallways is unnecessary. Students aren’t learning while they’re walking in the hallway, so if the point of this ban is to have distraction-free learning, why are they banning them during a time where we’re not learning? Some people may think that this ban will be beneficial for decreasing screen time during school hours, but in reality, it will really only make students find sneakier ways to use them. In the best case scenario, phones aren’t banned at all. But, since this bill is bound to happen, phones should be banned only during class time rather than being banned from the first bell to the last bell.