Jack Stone, a senior and member of the student council at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, says he’s not much of a “phone guy.”
Like the rest of his classmates in the semester since the West Ada School District rolled out its new cellphone ban, when Stone goes to class, he powers off his phone and places it in a designated storage slot — called a “phone vault” — to signal his attendance. His phone waits there until class ends and he heads to his next one.
The 17-year-old, who described himself as “80 years old” at heart, said he’s trying to see the new rule prohibiting cellphone use in class “from all sides.” He understands it can help students focus better, but he’s not sure it’s the best way to prepare for the future.
“In life, you won’t be able to have things locked up, right?” Stone said. “Because you’ll be independent at some point, and you’ll have a phone, and you’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, can I set this next to me and be able to get the work done, and be able to go and do my job correctly?’ ”