Some teachers at West Albany High School are shocked and impressed by our student body. It turns out that the Bulldogs can adapt and don’t go down easily, even when facing a state-wide cell phone ban.

     “My initial thought was a little bit concerned that a school day-long cell phone ban… would cause conflict with students,” history teacher Jeneveve Winchell said.

     This was a sentiment echoed by some of the WAHS staff. But some of our student body showed out, shattering teacher expectations.

     “Students almost immediately adjusted to the new expectation,” Winchell said. “I was shocked when I didn’t have to take any cell phones.”

     This was a win for the Bulldogs, and an underdog win nonetheless. Some of the student body have been incredibly resilient in overcoming the mental challenges of life without phones. 

     “These phones were releasing dopamine in your brain that was getting you addicted,” Psychology teacher Mr. Hall said. “And then on top of that, if kids didn’t have it, they develop a total fear of missing out. So it creates all these layers of mental health struggles that kids have to work through.”

     Some teachers have seen immediate returns from students who are invested in the phone ban. Math teacher Ashleigh Johnson has witnessed this change firsthand.

     “I thought that this was the first year [that] during the first pep assembly, every single student was engaged,” Johnson said. “It was so loud… it was just awesome to see no one distracted by [phones].” 

     Some students are showing incredible resilience through the process of the cell phone ban, and some of the WAHS staff are proud to have been involved in it.

     “The majority of [students] have bought into [the ban] and are following that rule, which has been amazing,” Johnson said.