During a Stables meeting on April 13, English Teacher and Phone Policy Committee member Katherine Hamblet, speaking in a video shared to students, said that Milton is considering new phone usage policies for the Upper School. She invited students to debate and propose a possible phone policy to the committee. Head Monitor Pati Pogorzelska ’26, in that same video, revealed, “there will definitely be some sort of [new] policy either this spring or next year.”
Milton already has a phone policy in place. Currently, cell phone use is permitted in classrooms “only with the explicit approval of the teacher,” as stated by the 2025-2026 Upper School Student Handbook. Still, Hamblet described the policy as “widely ignored.”
The Committee, which first met in January and includes fifteen faculty members, has been putting together research and gathering feedback both from inside the Milton community and from other schools. The Phone Policy Committee presented its findings to faculty in early March. They proposed three possible policy options for consideration: phone-free classrooms and assembly spaces—a policy consistent with the current Handbook—phone-free campus buildings from 8:05 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.; and a campus-wide phone-free policy during that same time frame.
Hamblet emphasized that the revision effort is not about banning phones. “It’s not [about] taking something away by force,” she said. Hamblet framed the conversation as one about community values: “It’s about starting and maintaining an honest conversation about the kind of community we want Milton to be.”
According to Hamblet, concerns about phones have been mounting for years among faculty but became more noticeable following the pandemic: “Students had to keep to themselves when we all had to be six feet apart, so they began spending much more time on their phones, and cell phones were becoming more and more engaging at about the same time, doubling the effect.” Since the pandemic, “adults [have] started noticing less casual engagement between students and less engagement of students with people in front of them in assemblies, classes, and meetings.” She added that “the same behaviors are true of adults, too.”
Hamblet also noted that several students themselves have called for more discussion around phone use this year, and that external developments—including a proposed Massachusetts bill that would limit phone use in schools and similar, already-implemented laws in 35 other states—have added urgency.
The committee has been researching phone use and its potential effects. “Are there in fact long-term impacts on adolescent learning and health?” Hamblet asked. “It begins to seem like there may be, and this research is quite new but quite troubling.”
The Phone Policy Committee is aiming to develop a policy that is “easy to maintain, culturally and individually,” Hamblet said. She noted that clearer—and sometimes stricter—policies were more effective in shaping behavior in other schools.
As a part of the Stables session, students were asked to propose potential policies and provide feedback using a QR code at the end of Stables with the understanding that some form of policy change will likely take effect either later this school year or next.
Some felt that a policy change would be too abrupt, especially given how integrated phones already are in daily routine at Milton. As Dasha Johnson ’27 explained, “the reason that there are such strong opinions against the phone policy is that it seems really sudden.”
Hudson Li ’26 expressed, “the school should just do whatever they want. They have been talking about this thing for so long… If there’s a policy, they should just implement it. There will always be people that [disagree], but we’re just dilly-dallying right now.”
“It’s not untrue to say that phones mess with your creativity, attention span, productivity, and all the qualities that the school tries to cultivate in you,” stated Andria Laitadze ’26. Laitadze reflected on the importance of forming healthy routines: “No one in college is going to be regulating [phones], and Milton is a good place to build habits.”
Li compared the potential phone policy to the mandatory study hall system for Class III and IV students. “People will always complain about study hall, but as a senior now, I think it is a great system… We built a routine that a lot of Milton graduates would say helped them in college.”
Indra Li ’27 pointed to the social effects of phone use on campus. “Recently, we’ve had a lot of people come [to] tour our school, and it’s not a good look for them to walk into the Stu or Forbes and see everyone… on their phones.” At the same time, Li said, “I think it’s a bit ambitious to think a phone policy will solve the issue of us not interacting with others. Cliques have existed long before phones.”
As the school moves toward a decision, the committee will continue to review feedback and research before finalizing a policy ahead of the next school year. Whether Milton ultimately revises its current approach or adopts a new one, the outcome may shape not only how phones are used on campus but also how students and faculty interact in shared spaces.