The DeMatha staff is getting tired of kids being on their phones at all times of the day and they’re doing something to fix it. Next year, they will be starting the new rule where you won’t need your phone to sign in to Veracross. DeMatha is going to be using a different form of technology to sign in now and every student will be getting a USB that they can use on computers. This technology will completely eliminate the need to have a phone during the school day, and I can make a guess that using phones in school now will come with a lot more consequences.

Junior Brandon Newman said, “I understand why teachers might want to make this rule but I feel like juniors and seniors are old enough to keep track of their phones and not use it when they’re not supposed to.”

Mrs. Phalen thinks the new policy is going to be good for the school and is happy she’ll be able to teach “without kids being on their phone.” When I asked her about Brandon’s belief that upperclassmen are responsible enough to use their phones responsibly, she said that all grades and ages go on their phones and just because they might be juniors and seniors doesn’t mean they should be exempt from the rules.

This rule could benefit the school but I also think that it might make students want to use their phones more. Sometimes when you’re told not to do something it makes you want to do it more, which could make this an unintended form of reverse psychology. By the end of the next year, we will see if this rule is really improving students and whether their grade averages go up.