On May 5, Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1009, a law that bans the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in public schools across the state. The ban took effect this year for students in grades K-8, while the ban will take effect for high school students in the 2027-28 school year.
This year Paideia has been enforcing phone rules on the students, mediated through the teachers. In an email sent out to students and parents in June, High School Principal Stacey Winston wrote, “To help students stay engaged and present during learning opportuwnities, students will place phones in designated phone pockets during class meetings and other instructional settings when appropriate.”
“The rule hasn’t changed, but the enforcement is changing,” Winston said in regards to the policy. “Actually, if you go all the way back to the early 2000s, it was [that] your phones were supposed to be off and in your bag during class, and that doesn’t always work that well, and we started using the cell phone jails. They weren’t supposed to be used during class ever.”
History teacher Barrington Edwards agrees with the current policy: “I think we’re doing the right thing,” Edwards says. “[There’s] just no place in the classroom for a cell phone.”
Student Adele Genovese ’29 reports that “Some of my teachers don’t care, and some of my teachers do care about it.” In regards to her views on the policy, Genovese says, “It’s just annoying.”
“I think it’s a smart thing to do because sometimes students can get distracted on their phones,” Caleb Andrews ’28 says. “However, I feel like as you grow, people need to learn to have responsibility with their phones. I think for freshman and sophomores it’s a good idea, but once you get to junior or senior year, you should have a little more freedom.”
Student Olivia Tate ’28 explains, “I think it’s fine because it doesn’t typically ruin my day and stuff. But, I feel like the policy makes it easier for students to lose their phones because that’s happened to me multiple times.”
While public high schools across Georgia prepare for a cell phone ban, Paideia does not plan to follow suit. “At this time, we’re not interested in doing that because we want to work with students to help them use their phones appropriately,” says Winston.
