Spanish teacher Señora Concepción coined it  “Nomophobia”–the fear of losing or being too far away from your cell phone.

With the 2022-2023 just kicking off, a return to normalcy is felt by students and staff alike.

No more virtual classes and masks are now optional when in the building. To ensure another successful school year, there has been an implementation of new and stricter enforcement of older policies in school. 

‘While I’m not happy about the phone policy, I do understand it. Not having my phone out in class does help me focus.  However, I sometimes feel like there are dull moments in class where I think checking my phone quickly wouldn’t be an issue— only for a teacher to get upset,” senior Calum Murray said.

Among those policies however, the use of cell phones is a big ticket item. The range of enforcement can differ from teacher to teacher, or even department to department.  While some teachers go as far as enforcing a classroom pocket holder and phone jails, others simply “don’t want to see it during class time” or say nothing at all. 

Almost everyone has one–and many face the consequences of cell phone addiction.

The urge to be connected 24/7 and mindlessly scroll through various social applications is not ideal for the culture of the classroom, though. 

“There’s a time and place for it, just like me asking you to open a book or a workbook or two.  It’s a strategy for learning. So sometimes the phone is not needed when we’re doing activities, and sometimes it’s needed.” Concepción said.

The enforcement of cell phone policy in the classroom isn’t going away anytime soon, it may be time for everyone to tackle their “nophombia” while class is in session.