Earlier this school year, Calabasas High School introduced what students quickly started calling the “phone police.” The goal was clear: take away phones during school hours and improve focus in class. At first, the enforcement seemed strict and very noticeable. However, after winter break, things looked different.

Sophomore Tayden Garcia shared his thoughts on the absent phone police.  

Garcia said, “I noticed when we came back from winter break, the phone police were gone.” 

Before winter break, the phone policy was enforced very seriously. 

“Before the semester ended, they were so much more strict with the phones, and they had a bunch of people hired just for taking phones,” said Garcia.

At the start of the year, all schools in the district had staff members specifically assigned to monitor and collect phones from students.

The policy was not limited to phones, but mobile communication devices like Apple Watches and AirPods.

But after winter break, that level of enforcement seemed to disappear. 

According to sophomore Erez Miller, “The only people that were trying to take phones were Nick and Charlie.” 

Instead of a larger group focused on enforcing the rule, only a small number of staff members appeared to continue the effort.

So why was the “phone police” short-lived?

The actual reason the “phone police” disappeared is that students started following the rules. Principal Wutkee explained that the strict enforcement earlier in the year helped students understand the expectations about phone use during school hours. After some time, many students began keeping their phones away on their own. 

Principal Wutkee said, “It was no longer necessary to have the additional presence on our campus because our students were doing such a nice job following the LVUSD Off and Away policy. I want to commend and thank our students for continuing to follow the policy since the additional staff left”. 

Because students showed they could follow the rule, the school no longer needed staff members dedicated to taking phones. The early enforcement helped students get used to the policy before the school moved to trusting students to follow it themselves.

At Calabasas High School, the disappearance of the phone police after winter break shows that lasting change requires more than just strict rules; it requires sustainability, fairness, and cooperation from both staff and students.