A US school has banned the use of smartphones on campus after students used excessively. Buxton School in Massachusetts is known for its close-knit community. The school serves family-like meals at round tables and students and teachers share in the work.
However, the administration felt that the phone was hurting the sentiments of their community. According to The Wall Street Journal, students often looked down on their phones during meals and even in classrooms where phones were restricted. The teachers got tired of telling them not to do so. Furthermore, instead of gathering in the student lounge after class, the children retreated to their rooms to use their phones.
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The decision to remove the phone was made in 2020 following the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the closure of the school for a few months and the introduction of virtual learning, making the situation worse.
“We found that our students became more and more distant from real life as their phones became their worlds,” John Kalapos, Buxton’s school associate chief, told the major daily. They claim that this trend has been going on since the students returned to the campus.
Late last year, after a student live-streamed a physical altercation that went viral, Mr Kalapos came to the conclusion that something needed to be done.
Starting this fall, neither faculty members nor students are allowed to use smartphones on campus. Instead, they have been given simple light phones to maintain the required communication. Mr Kalapos described how the announcement created chaos. Everyone was crying and shouting at the administration. He also said that the response from the parents was extremely mixed.
“There are some things that bother you not having a phone, like watching a video,” says 16-year-old student Emilio Martínez Buenostro. Still, he has gotten used to not being glued to his screen all the time, he says.
Now, while the no-phone policy has been in place for almost two months, students are adjusting to life without social media.
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