“It’s annoying if my teacher says you can do your own work and I can’t use my phone to listen to music.” Those were the words of Milken student Maddie Schwartz ‘25, who does not appreciate having her phone taken away during class. And yet, this is happening a lot at Milken lately. 

Starting this year, teachers now have the option to collect all student phones on a daily basis in phone racks at the beginning of every class. In previous years, students would often use their phones for extended periods of time during class without being caught by their teacher. According to the 11-12 division head Mr. Lindsay, Milken faculty has received feedback from teachers that phones are “removing student presence and focus during class.” Faculty has also received word from graduating seniors regarding “concerns about phones being out during assessments” as well. 

For this reason, Milken has tried to tackle this behavior in the classroom by giving all teachers the option to utilize these phone racks on a daily basis. Milken has also made it mandatory for teachers to collect all devices at the start of assessments. 

The push for this option to collect student phones originated with the Hebrew Instructional Leader, Dr. Carmit Burstyn. She began placing all her students’ phones in one location in preparation for class last year and found an increase in her students’ focus. Dr. Burstyn stated that access to phones during class creates a “temptation for students that makes it harder for them to learn.” She also added that although she does not expect students to remain fully engaged for an entire hour of class, she feels that phones decrease the amount of time a student could have stayed fully focused as well. 

Mr. Lindsay agreed with the idea that access to phones creates an unhealthy urge during class as he described devices to be a tempting “sum total of human knowledge.” Often, phones can cause in-class distraction not only with their ability to communicate with friends or classmates, but with the seemingly infinite amount of information that they hold. 

As Dr. Burstyn expressed the successes of collecting all phones at the start of class, other Hebrew teachers began to adopt the policy in their own classrooms as well. Eventually, these positive effects were mentioned in a Division 11-12 meeting, where Mr. Lindsay showed interest in the racks being more widely used throughout the school. This then led to Dr. Burstyn sending Mr. Lindsay various links for different types of phone racks that she felt could be used to store student phones. With the proper approval, Mr. Lindsay purchased enough racks for every classroom and created the option for them to be used by teachers on a daily basis.

However, if the Milken administration believes in the benefits of daily phone rack usage, then it raises the question: why did they not make it mandatory for all classes? Mr. Lindsay feels that although administration felt it important to keep phone racks mandatory during assessments, they also wanted to prioritize “empowering teachers to construct the classroom space” through giving them the option regarding use on a daily basis. 

Mr. Lindsay calls these new policies “a bit of an experiment” and says that this year they will “check in on how things go” with the new phone racks. Based on faculty’s findings in regards to phone usage, they plan to act accordingly in deciding when phone rack usage is necessary in the future. 

Another reason for the creation of the phone racks could be in relation to habits built during the time students spent on Zoom. During online classes, many students would often use their phones or other devices as it was easy to conceal and difficult to stop by teachers. Sophie Skolnik, ‘26 and Noah Fakheri ‘26 both say that they used their phones extremely often during class over Zoom. Although Skolnik says that she does not use her phone very often in face-to-face classes now, she says her phone has distracted her more while doing homework since coming back in person. 

Even Mr. Lindsay described phone usage during Covid as “natural” and stated that an increase of this behavior since the epidemic goes beyond the Milken student body and can be seen in general society as well. 

Also, according to federal data, phone bans in classrooms all over America have increased beyond 70% since 2020. But, since COVID it has been apparent across multiple sources that schools have been enforcing phone bans much more closely since in-person learning has resumed as well. Meaning, Milken has been only one of many  high schools that have applied stricter phone restrictions in the past years. Even though in-person learning has resumed since Spring of 2021, these types of habits may still be carrying over to in-person learning, resulting in the introduction of the phone racks. 

Despite the benefits that have been attributed to phone rack usage by faculty, not all teachers have taken advantage of the new option. Mr. Lindsay estimates that 50-60% of teachers use the racks on a daily basis and most of those who do not maintain the policy of requiring students to keep their phones in their backpacks at all times. 

History teacher Ira Madnikoff says that when phone racks were introduced to faculty, there was a range of opinions and not one consensus. He does not utilize the phone racks on a daily basis and believes that taking away students’ phones does not teach “responsibility” and instead “babysits them.” He also added that he tries to treat his students “like mini adults” and that in the same way his phone is not taken in faculty meetings, students’ phones should not be taken in their classes. However, Mr. Madnikoff did admit that if certain students are using their phones inappropriately, he will consider using the phone racks after a series of warnings. 

Jewish Studies teacher Sean Herstein, though, has been using the racks on a daily basis, and stated that he no longer has to worry when “seeing a student stare at something random on their desk.” In addition to preventing all student phone usage in the classroom, phone racks also allow for teachers to focus solely on their lesson rather than patrolling for students using their phones. Mr. Herstein also added that he no longer had to have “litigious” conversations with students or their parents regarding inappropriate device usage. 

Some students feel negatively about the racks though. Noah Fakheri says that he feels they are unnecessary and that the level a student is engaged at should be up to them. He also added that “glancing at your phone once or twice” will not put a complete detriment on student learning. Sophie Skolnik mentioned that “it is a lot less tempting to get out your phone and go on it because it is halfway across the room” but also added that the racks can be a distraction when “everyone’s phone keeps buzzing.” 

Overall, it is apparent that administration is largely in favor of the new phone racks that have been put in use and see it as beneficial to student engagement. However, it is also clear that the opinions of teachers are largely split on their effectiveness in the classroom. Some may see it as a missed opportunity to teach students to balance focus and access to phones while others agree with head faculty and see the racks as a way to cut all distractions caused by devices. 

Anecdotally though, stories regarding students not placing their phones in the racks at the start of class despite being required to, have already been circulating. This alone demonstrates that students are not happy with the new policy and see it as unnecessary. 

Maddie Schwartz ‘25 struck a balance though when stating, “It’s kind of annoying, but I get it, teachers want students to pay attention.”