In the coming weeks before school started for the 2022-2023 school year, students were expecting the year to turn out just like it always had. However, when students arrived at school on the first day, they sat down and were explained about the new cell phone policy that would be implemented this year. The reception was mixed at best. “I wasn’t really expecting these new rules, it kinda felt like they came out of nowhere.” said sophomore James Moreno.

Some students felt betrayed and said that they didn’t feel respected. “I feel like the new cell phone policy is stripping our rights away of privacy,” said CRHS junior, Jace Tyree. 

According to Tyree, the school can fix the cell phone school policy very easily. “The teachers, with discretion, will be able to teach far better [using cell phones] rather than struggling to teach us without using cell phones because [cell phones] have already become so ingrained in our curriculum.”

CRHS junior, Mariah Flores, says that the new cell phone policy hasn’t even helped us with the problem. “I feel it doesn’t even help. When we did have our phones, it helped us decide and see when it was appropriate to have our phones out. Now we don’t even get a choice.”

“I see there was good thought behind the policy, but either way I feel phones are gonna be out either way,” said Flores.

Some students would say that the school had no other choice but to instill the new policy. “Students focus and get more work done in class without distractions,” said senior Jessica Garcia. “The problem about phones [is] that it takes students’ time away from their schoolwork when the school work can easily be done at school.”

There are also some students who just want their phones back for less than favorable reasons, “Sometimes I try to cheat on a test, and I can’t because of the rule… I don’t know why we can’t just have our phones anyways,” said freshman Cris Roberto.

When over 100 CRHS students of all grades and genders were asked about how they would rate the new cell phone policy on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely unhappy and 10 being extremely happy with it. About 65% of those interviewed rated the policy with a lower rating, usually a 2 or 3 out of 10.

However, it seemed that seniors were the most outraged with the new policy saying, “We didn’t have the policy last year, how come we need it this year?” 

Only about 11% of students interviewed said that the cell phone policy was a good thing, rating it a 7 or 8 out of 10. “It keeps us from being distracted,” said junior Britney Munoz.

However, some students don’t seem to have a very strong opinion one way or the other. “Well, I don’t have a phone, so I don’t really care what the school does,” said Canyon Ridge freshmen Alex Herns.

Whether or not you stand for the new policy or can’t stand it at all, what remains true is that the cell phone policy is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and Tyree’s view on it, “Not much we can do about it, so I guess we just have to suck it up,” pretty much sums up the whole situation.