High School students should be allowed to have their phones. This is because of many reasons such as health factors, family purpose, access to information, and much more. Not only that, but students are told to act like adults so they should be responsible enough to handle their phone. As well as, there can be rules put in place to prohibit extra usage on their phone. Although, occasionally students may use their phone for things other than schoolwork, the pros outweigh the cons.
Most high schoolers use their phones for many things. This could be to look something up, talk to a classmate who’s not there. Or even something as simple as talking to their parents or guardians. With doing this it’s important to remember you don’t always know what’s going on in their life right now. That call that you wouldn’t let them answer might be the last time they could talk to their sick, dying grandparent. Or maybe a sibling is sick and you need to go pick them up. 
On the other hand, occasionally kids may use their phones for things other than school but realistically if they get their work done and are still learning, it shouldn’t really matter. If it affects them too much a friend, or teacher can easily remind them to put their phone away and pay attention. Many will argue that there’s too many conflicts with kids and their phones but if you respect them and trust that they will do what they need to, your life will be a whole lot easier. Don’t forget many people say that high school kids are adults, so why not start treating them like an adult. If you walked into a building and saw someone looking at their phones, you wouldn’t just go up to them and yank their phone out of their hand. You’d ignore them and know that they would eventually do what they need to.
Not to mention, phones have many different values. This includes calculator, google classroom, google docs, safari( or google) and many other beneficial apps. This can be helpful in many ways, if someone forgets their calculator instead of just sitting there and doing nothing they can continue to work using their phone calculator. Or even if they need to check their grades or to see if anything from a class is missing, the easiest thing to do is check StudentVue on your phone. Furthermore, if you give the student respect, they’ll most likely respect you back. Kids treat others how they get treated. If you believe they won’t misuse their phones (which they most likely won’t) and you at least give them a chance; they’ll not only respect you but also use their phone at the proper moments. 
In the end, high schoolers should be able to use their phones during class. If not for productivity, what’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work out you can always go back to the way it used to be, restricting phone use. High schoolers are responsible, respectful enough and can be productive with their phone usage. They may even need it for health reasons or even family commitments. Many things can play into why a high schooler might need their phone and most of the time they just like to listen to music. If it’s not distracting them from their work, what’s the worst that can happen?
Works Cited
“Should Cell Phones Be Allowed In Classrooms?” Oxford Learning, 22 April 2019, https://www.oxfordlearning.com/should-cell-phones-be-allowed-classrooms/. Accessed 6 April 2022.
VanDuzer, Todd. “Cell Phones in School: 11 Reasons Why They Should Be Allowed Advertisement.” Student-Tutor, https://student-tutor.com/blog/cell-phones-in-school/. Accessed 6 April 2022.