This article contains two student-authored editorial pieces from Thomas Jefferson High School on the district’s Personal Communication Device Policy–one in favor and one against. Amplifying student voices and the authentic experiences of students is a priority for Denver Public Schools.
The Personal Communication Device Policy took effect at the beginning of the 2026-27 year and requires students to turn their personal communication devices off and keep them out of sight while on campus during the school day. The views expressed in the following works are those of the student authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Denver Public Schools. Below are the student-authored editorial pieces:
Pro Phone Policy - DPS takes on a new policy; how are students responding?
Archana George, Minerva Benissan and Edie Gordeska
Denver Public Schools has initiated a new policy within the schools. The policy has banned phones from first bell to last bell. Every school in DPS has adapted this policy for this year in their own way. Although there are mixed feelings from students, it is becoming abundantly clear the phone policy is supporting community building, affecting the community positively and decreasing distractions in the classroom.
Teens find connection through their phones, but it can also hinder face-to-face socialization, which is crucial in a school's community development. With students' cell phones in their bags, they are more likely to talk and get to know each other during passing periods, lunch and classes. At lunch period, students can now be seen chatting, engaging in clubs or even hacky-sacking. At Thomas Jefferson High School, clubs no longer have the distraction of phones during their meetings, members are more productive and have more fun. The strong community that comes with reduced cell phone usage makes students feel an increased sense of belonging. The phone policy has helped unite schools by getting students off their screens.
The new cell phone policy seems to be having a lot of positive effects on the school community. By requiring students to keep their phones, smartwatches, headphones and other personal devices put away during the entirety of the school day, there are fewer distractions in class. It also encourages students to talk to each other more face-to-face rather than being on their phones during lunch or passing periods. This allows the community to build stronger friendships and become more involved with the people around them. The policy also helps make schools feel safer by reducing things like students recording others without permission or using their phones for cyberbullying.
There are statistics from other schools that show why policies like this could be helpful. One study from 2025 of a large Florida school district found that student phone usage dropped by about two-thirds after a stricter phone policy was introduced. The study also found that, two years after the policy started, student test scores increased by about 1.1 percentile points, while unexcused absences decreased. Another study from RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, found that 70% of school principals whose schools had phone restrictions reported a positive effect on school climate, while 67% reported less inappropriate phone use and 54% reported less cyberbullying inside their schools. These numbers don't necessarily mean DPS will see the exact same results, but they show that limiting phone use has the potential to improve students' learning, relationships and overall school environment.
In the past few weeks of this 2026-27 school year, since students don’t have access to their phones, there has been a major increase in the amount of students paying attention in class. By not having access to their phones, students are able to fully engage with course material taught to them and further their educational career. According to Eileen Adair, the TJ Newspaper teacher, “projects that used to take roughly two weeks are now being finished within a few days.” Before this policy, phones were a heavy distraction for many students. Students keeping their phone in their pockets made the cellular devices more accessible, leading to kids using social media or texting their peers, diverting their attention away from their studies. Looking back at last year’s policy, students were able to use their phones in classes where teachers didn’t enforce the policy of placing their phones into a holder. This caused a discrepancy between students because some teachers took that policy very seriously, some kids were able to use their phone while others didn't, allowing students to be able to cheat in class and others having to use their brain alone. This new policy allows kids to devote their focus on their work and education while more deeply connecting with their classmates, implementing a major change on the entire TJ community that has and will continue to shape future Spartans.
Anti-Phone Policy - DPS’s new phone ban policy is unnecessary for students in DPS
Addie Weber, Chloe Westlund and Harper Skurky-Thomas
Denver Public Schools recently introduced a new Personal Communication Device policy dictating students cannot have their phones on campus during the school day. The Colorado General Assembly passed a law that means all school districts must have a phone policy system introduced by the 2026-27 school year, and this is what DPS produced. However, the phone ban is defective and does not reach the goals that the district attempted to achieve. Students feel that the phone ban fails to prevent ongoing cheating and social success is often hindered. This phone policy should be replaced by one mandating that phones should be collected at the start of each class, which would be more practical and effective than the current policy.
One of the main reasons that phones are recognized as a problem on campus is due to repetitive cheating. Many students keep their phones in their pockets, which gives them the opportunity to pull the phone out in class and communicate with peers, and scroll on social media. The primary outcome of the current phone ban was to make it difficult for students to be on their phone during lunch and passing periods but easier to use it in class, which is counterproductive.
The policy dictates not having access to a phone anywhere on campus. Teachers are permitted to take any phones that are on campus, including in areas such as sports fields or parking lots where nothing academic takes place. Students with no method of transportation will be inconvenienced by this policy as they will no longer be able to reach those who give them a ride. Because the student would have no way to communicate during the day, they would have to work it out after school, which could become problematic. The district argues that if parents have an immediate issue during the day, they should call the office and speak to the child through landlines. However, that is not always an option throughout the day. It also adds to the workload of the administrative team. If the district would unwind the phone policy slightly and allow students access to their phones during free periods, students would be able to communicate with their families much easier.
The district would argue that the phone policy improves social relationships, which can be true. However, the phone ban can also make it more difficult for students to form new relationships. One of the article authors remembers a time when she was going to go to lunch with a new foreign exchange student. But she was not able to find her because she did not know what her third period was, so the student just went to lunch with her usual friends. If she had been able to text the foreign exchange student to ask her where she was and where they could meet, she would have been able to build a relationship with a person who had just begun school in this country
One way that the district could move forward is to change the policy to have teachers take phones before each class the way some schools did in the past. This way, students can have their phones when they need to, but teachers don’t have to worry about kids being on them during class. Even though there will continue to be students that don’t follow the rules, every phone policy will have that issue. The district should find ways to weave phones into learning to improve student education instead of banning them altogether. Since phones have been in schools for so long, schools have adapted to benefit from them. For example, many student organizations use QR codes to disseminate information among the student body. With the new phone policy, this is no longer possible. The sudden severance of technology that has been used in schools for years has created friction.
The phone ban has caused inconvenience for students without solving any real problems. Implementing a system where student’s phones are taken only in their classes will eliminate misunderstandings and allow students to communicate with each other and their families throughout the day when it’s necessary.
Note from DPS: The Personal Communications Device Policy was not intended to address cheating; rather, the policy’s purpose is to support focused learning, reduce distraction and promote in-person interaction, guided by a framework of learning and wellbeing rather than punishment. View the full policy.