Leave the Phone at Home

Clearly, no-phone-at-the-dinner-table etiquette did not transfer to college. Maybe it’s time to fix that.

In his remarks to this year’s freshman class, Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said the College would “experiment” with supplying phone pouches to foster in-person socialization amongst students. Presumably, the pouches would bolster a sense of community by inviting students to engage with each other person-to-person rather than staring at their phones.

Admittedly, I initially snickered at the prospect of putting my phone in a pouch. The suggestion that college students need their administration to guide them towards healthy habits felt infantilizing, as if I could not actively choose to set the phone down myself.

But perhaps that sense of accusation is a good thing. I always strive to be mindful about my screentime, but the phone pouch proposal made me want to try distancing from my phone on my own. What purpose would my phone actually serve if I brought it with me to dinner, or to go on a walk with a friend?

Deming has correctly identified a key problem: Harvard students desperately need a culture change regarding our phones.

Initiatives designed to discourage, rather than outright ban, phone usage help scaffold healthy habits into students’ day-to-day lives. Students are ultimately responsible for changing their habits, but a helpful push in the right direction provides guardrails without devolving into paternalism. After all, using the proposed pouches would be up to us.

Phone dependency is a habit modern society has become too acquainted with. Relying on phones as a source of constant contact exacerbates anxiety and can result in unhealthy dependency. An oft-cited 2017 study found that simply having one’s phone in view is enough to diminish cognitive capacity and ability to focus. Clearly, being logged into our devices at all times is not healthy, and steps are necessary to combat the omnipresence of the phone.

Harvard students also recognize this issue. In a 2025 survey by the Harvard Independent, 60 percent of student respondents reported either presently or formerly using screen time limits for their devices. That mindset should only become more ubiquitous. But the reality is, dependency on screens remains excessive. Over 50 percent of respondents reported daily screen times exceeding 8 hours. No screen time limits or apps seem to be changing the fact that students cannot put the phone down. Perhaps a physical separation, even a temporary one, might help.

Harvard students, like most other young adults, fit the screenager stereotype. Phone pouches might not be a catch-all solution to the issue at hand, but they could very well push some students in the right direction (as they have for me) and call further attention to how pervasive the digital compulsion crisis has become. We may feel pressure to be reachable at a moment’s notice, but that need not remain the norm. Anything which promotes the reverse acts in our favor: We should not be angsty about the premise of not having our phones within an arms reach.

Other universities have already taken steps to promote screen-free socialization. In 2021, Yale University created the “Offline Oasis,” a tech-free space designed for students to unplug; New York University earlier this year launched their “NYU IRL” effort to establish phone-free spaces and promote living in the moment, or “in real life.” It is time Harvard, too, joins in on creating cultural change on campus.

Students are bound to have qualms with relinquishing their phones. In spite of the benefits, being asked to separate from your phone does not sound very attractive.

But then again, if I am so sure I do not need a pouch to use my phone, what am I doing to prove that? Students that feel certain they have enough restraint to be present without the help of a phone pouch should be able to reflect as much in their behavior. Otherwise, it is all bark and no bite. If I know I am only going to the dining hall or picking up a package — spaces where my phone serves no purpose — why not just leave it at the dorm?

Again, phone pouches might not be our saving grace, but I think the premise Deming is standing on is legitimate. Following the example of Yale and NYU by establishing more spaces that prohibit phone and device usage would force students to disconnect and be more present. Down the line, the College might consider encouraging students to leave phones in their dorms or even piloting Bricks (a physical screen time blocker) in social settings. Such changes may compound the possible effects of the pouches in fostering proper engagement.

Simply put, our culture around phones has become unhealthy. It should not be the norm to sit at a table amongst friends just to scroll instead of converse. Our relationships with our friends, not our phones, should have our full attention.

Olivia R. Nelson ’29, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Leverett House.