Just as we leave High School, we can look back into retrospect and analyze how different our experience was from what we expected the first few moments we stepped into NHHS. In a way, these four years flew by faster than we imagined; however, at the same time, there were days that felt longer than months, especially in the stages of asynchronous learning.

Knowing that the new generation of students at North Hollywood High School has valiant individuals, like Jane Esclanda, gives us a sense of peace in knowing that every year, these students fight harder for what they believe is right.

The amount of respect the NHHS Arcade Writers have towards Jane for trying to be the change is extensive. The world needs more people to speak up whenever they don’t agree with something. Although sometimes there might be negative feedback or it may be harsh to get your point across, it is the bravery and willingness for change that matters the most.

As time went by in High School, we grew up like a tight-knit family and every year that passed brought us closer together. If there was a word that described the graduating class of 2022, it would be passion. It is interesting seeing a completely different spectrum from what is mentioned in the essay as we have first-hand experienced our class going through the most difficult experiences while always trying to succeed, no matter the difficulty of any obstacles we have faced or what we come across with.

The recent pandemic heavily altered the lives of all students and forced not only change but extreme adaptation to their learning style. All schooling was moved to an online format where practically every assignment that was assigned was submitted through some sort of digital device, whether it was a phone or computer. With students now back on campus this year, an adjustment once again had to be made for students to go back to in person learning.

The year of the pandemic caused students to heavily rely on their digital devices, especially phones, and many grew an addiction towards it. We are now seeing the effects of these addictions in school, with countless teachers expressing their frustration about students paying more attention to their phones instead of the class itself. Because of this, the school has gathered a committee to implement a new phone policy that will hopefully decrease the amount of students that do not pay attention in class.

With the news recently being spread, a lot of misinformation has been going around. Many students jumped to the assumption that the new phone policies are going towards banning phones which is not the case at all. In a schoology update, Ms.Fowzer, a teacher at North Hollywood High, quoted the cell phone committee, stating “ This committee is NOT trying to ban cell phones. Instead, we want to help the school come up with a flexible and clear classroom cell phone policy for the next school year. Our goal is to help students focus on learning in the classroom and to help teachers concentrate on their teaching.

The goal of this committee is to help students further succeed, but will there be any drawbacks to taking phones away? Many students have stated that their phone being away from them makes them anxious, with them needing to check it to make sure they are not missing out on anything important. Multiple underclassmen stated that if their phones were to be taken during class, they would be stressing about being away from their phone more than worrying about the class itself.

It seems as this issue is extremely complex and it is clear that the solution that the cell phone committee comes up with will not fit the needs of all students, although it is important to strive for change. The amount of distractions within classrooms may be getting overwhelming and we need to make sure that education is still the top priority with nothing stopping students from performing at their absolute best.

It should be the perfect mixture of using technology wisely along with knowing when to not get distracted that will benefit students and teachers the most in order to move forward in unity while knowing what is best for our education.