Antonio Agaton Arrendondo and Freddy Martinez Martinez
Hollywood High School has prepared for the phone ban policy that will take effect on February 18th. Students have received Kirkland ziplock plastic bags to act as the Velcro bags they will receive on that date. Back in 2024, administrators at LAUSD began discussing implementing a phone ban to reduce the number of distractions during school hours and the number of mental health issues related to social media platforms.
Since the announcement, there have been many complaints from students about this phone policy. Patron Meechukant, an SAS senior at Hollywood High School stated, “It is very idiotic as the ban will take place during the middle of the school year instead of the beginning of the school year.”
Since students received the plastic bags to put their phones inside, many have not agreed to it. Aikin Yam, a SAS senior at Hollywood High said, ”It is kinda dumb, we could put our phones in our backpacks instead of putting them into the plastic bags then putting them into our backpacks.” Others have said, ”It’s cheap looking and we just spent like one dollar on some plastic bags.”
Many teachers have argued that it will do nothing. A teacher from Hollywood High stated off the record that “It is kinda hard to implement and it’s a tool we all use, so if you can’t get your text messages from your iPhone, you can get them on your iPad, you can get them from your personal computers.” What will stop students from opening their pouches and using their phones? What will stop them from going into private places around the school such as the bathroom and using their phones? Will this increase the amount of time students ditch classes just to use their phones? Stay tuned.
