High School students go phone free
by Juanita I. C. Traughber, communications director
A day without their handheld digital devices is liberating for many High School students.
A day without their handheld digital devices is liberating for many High School students.
A fourth of High School students voluntarily surrendered their phones Friday, Feb. 2 for the duration of the school day. In disconnecting from their devices, they reconnected with classmates, as challenged by Social Studies Teacher Matthew Haber ’98.
Max Yazdian ’20 said he left his phone with Haber for the day so that he could enjoy a low-stress day.
“It’s a lot to check your phone if you always check it, and it was nice to talk with friends,” he said. They easily found each other in the Auditorium during lunch where the High School provided pizza for all students who handed in their phones for the day.
Jolie Diskin ’19 said she would regularly participate in phone-free days even without incentives like pizza.
“When my phone is with me, I check it out of habit. But when it wasn’t with me, I didn’t need it,” she said, before suggesting to Head of High School Quinton Walker that there be baskets throughout the school where students can leave their phones for the entire school day.
Haber collected 111 phones and said he plans to host another phone-free day and is accepting suggestions from students on other self-improvement initiatives for High School.
High School doesn’t have a formal phone policy. Students may carry and use them throughout the school day, and faculty decide how students may use them in their classrooms. Some teachers incorporate them into lessons occasionally. Other teachers have students place them shoe racks and file holders, known as Phone Home, during class to prevent phones from becoming distractions.
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Contact
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
USN Mission:
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.