Audience Etiquette Lacks Respectful Listening

Phones distract, take attention from speakers

Mirah Lukis | Staff Writer

In assembly, there’s always at least one kid who is scrolling through social media and at least one teacher who is ready to snatch up their phone. But does this phone policing bring about more annoyance than helpfulness?

Personally, I believe that both negative and positive impacts can be created by teachers’ policing of phones.

On the positive side, being present, respectful, and not on our phones while we are in the JNA together listening to speakers creates a sense of community. Latin teacher Alita Shenk agrees, saying, “[Assembly] is something we do as a community and people should treat other members of the community with respect.” Some- times, being a respectful audience member does not necessarily involve actively listening, merely sitting up and maintaining eye contact. As someone on stage, seeing someone in the audience who is on their phone or slouching over doesn’t give the best impression and could potentially lead to increased nervousness or feeling insignificant. This readily contributes to weakening the community, which is the exact opposite of what assembly is meant to accomplish. Ninth grade dean, Jen Vance adds, “Sometimes [students] don’t realize how rude [they] are and the impression it makes on other people like when [they] have [their] phone out and somebody’s giving a speech.” Even as someone who has not been up on stage much in the Juliet Neilson Auditorium (JNA), I can imagine how seeing those in the audience actively on their phones or whispering to their friends could heighten my levels of nervousness. Therefore, since assembly gives us the opportunity to come together as a school, it’s important to take advantage of the time it grants and be, at the very least, respectful to those speaking.

Simultaneously, constant phone policing can become distracting or annoying to students. Jocelyn

Kate

Jim ‘26 mentions, “Sometimes [phone policing] is