As we start to get comfortable in the new school year, a new policy has some students on edge. The new “Bell-to-Bell” state law bans all personal devices from school. Personal devices include personal computers, iPads, smartphones and smartwatches. 

School districts are required to form their policies and implement them by January 2026. The goal of this policy is to reduce distractions caused by personal devices, and improve overall learning. 

Some students, here at Valley, think that limiting phone usage won’t stop students from breaking the rules.

“I feel like it’s too much of a control issue they’re having. They think that they can, I don’t know, stop us from giving up if we have less phones or something, but people always find a way to break the rules. So I don’t think it’s gonna issue that much more control that the school already has over us. So I don’t know. I think it’s a bad idea.” Said sophomore Quin Hetherington.

While cutting personal devices in school might help learning in some areas, it will also make it harder to learn through research.

One example of extensive research is in the relatively new to Loudoun County IB diploma. The goal of the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program is to “empower school-aged students to take ownership in their own learning and help them develop future-ready skills to make a difference and thrive in a world that changes fast.” IB classes are designed to promote learning through research and discussion. 

“I think it can actually be very troublesome, especially for people who are doing higher levels of research, and you need access to certain websites and certain journals that you can’t get when you’re on the school-issued Chromebook, they just block it all.” Said Clarin Gaucher, a senior in the IB diploma program at Valley. “This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that I believe the school should be regulating. I think more emphasis should be put on student and parent responsibility, to ensure that their kids are going in with what they need every day, and that their children have manners and care about their education.” 

The new policy will impact teachers, as well. LCPS restrictions have been placed on an absurd amount of websites that address controversial topics that are necessary for learning. 

“It makes my job a lot harder. There’s a lot of times where I’ll find a really good educational material or source, and then it’ll be blocked at school, for example, PBS has been blocked before, or History.com  has been blocked before.” Said history teacher Matt Poth.

The bottom line is that LCPS may have the authority to regulate the usage on their school issued Chromebooks, but when it comes to personal device use many families believe that decision is up to the student and the parent, or a teacher’s individual judgment. 

“It would be great if Loudoun County would give us the ability to actually utilize the sites and the information out there. That would make us better at teaching critical thinking, analysis and comprehension to our students,” said Poth.