WOODBURY — As the 2025 school year begins many kids are being troubled with the new phone policy.

Among the changes this year is an attendance code where students are marked absent if they fail to store away their phone prior to class starting. 

Mason Gilbert, a sophomore at Nonnewaug thinks that students shouldn’t be marked absent just because their phone isn’t in the phone pocket.

“The phone policy is causing kids to be marked absent, making parents question where their kids who they sent to school went,” said Gilbert. “But, the whole time the only thing that’s missing is the phone that belongs to the student but for some reason the student is the one who gets marked absent.”

Since many teachers review student phones in classroom phone holders in order to take attendance, a lot of mistakes can happen like absences even when a student is actually present.

Olympia Persico, a freshman at Nonnewaug, understands the value of the new phone policy. .

“We are allowed phones during different parts of the day which is acceptable,” said Persico. “We are denied phone access during class periods so it doesn’t affect our studies or work”

Removing phones from classrooms prevents distractions and maintains students’ abilities to focus at a higher rate. 

“Students are completely restricted from their phones,” Gilbert said. “I know people make the argument that they give us access to our phones at lunch and study hall but emergencies aren’t scheduled and things can happen at any time.”

For students like Gilbert, access to cell phones during the day is something that parents and students will miss. 

“I think we should be able to have our phones because phones are used for more than distracting,” Gilbert said, noting that cell phones are an integral part of communicating with parents.  “They are needed for safety, communication and more.”