Trinity students are talking after Headmaster Byron Lawson announced a new rule at all-school assembly on Jan. 9. No phones in chapel. This means no Snapchat, Twitter, Netflix or Instagram to distract you while in chapel. Lawson and Upper School Principal Dennis Herron decided to implement this new rule after realizing that many students are not respectful in chapel because of many distractions, cell phones being one of the biggest.

The major question that has been bouncing around campus was: how will this cell phone ban be implemented? From impending conversations that are happening between members of administration and Student Council, Trinity Prep students are now getting an idea of what changes will be made in the near future.

Lawson believes that students should really get something out of chapel, and that you can’t always do that when anticipating a call or a text, or constantly checking your phone.

“I feel as if, to get the most out of chapel, your attention needs to be there,” Lawson said. “And with the phones, we know you can’t do that.”

There are many ideas, including phone baskets by advisory in the auditorium lobby, or have students simply put their phones away in their backpacks, and more.

“One of the more popular ideas was to have students leave their phones on their desks in their fourth period, and get them back after

chapel,” senior Jimmy Toscano said.

Some of the methods have been tested in the past two chapels and appeared to work successfully. Because this rule has existed but is not always followed, Lawson said he is just trying to make it set in stone and to ensure students’ compliance with the rule.

“Now I feel as if I have been a part of the community long enough to see how it operates,” he said.

The enforcement of the rule has some students beside themselves, while others are indifferent to it. Some students admit to watching Netflix and using social media during chapel, and other students think the phone is necessary to have in case there is an emergency and someone is trying to contact you.

“I think that the upside is having less distraction in chapel, but the downside is not being able to contact someone when you need to,” freshman Madison McGuire said.

Other students couldn’t care less and feel the rule is not necessary, but implied.

“I don’t really use my phone in chapel, so I don’t mind,” freshman Julian Neris said.

While it is indisputable that phones in use during both chapel and class serve as an immense distraction and even an indirect form of disrespect, rules have already been in place at Trinity.  Students have always been reprimanded for taking their phones out in class and in chapel, usually by confiscation until the end of the day.

Members of the administration and Student Council are hashing out the details of an efficient method of enforcing the ban, but they are ultimately trying to bring back respect and attention to our chapel services.