My Experience with Opal

This year, Trevor has taken its first major step towards reducing student screen time with the introduction of a new phone policy supported by the screen-time-management app Opal. A select group of students–myself among them–is participating in a trial program for a few weeks in the fall in order to help the administration understand how Opal works in a real school environment and whether it could meaningfully change student behavior.

 At its core, Opal is designed to help users stay focused by temporarily blocking selected apps and tracking overall screen usage. During the trial, participating students were able to use Opal to regulate which apps were available throughout the school day. Unlike many traditional “lockdown” apps, Opal is meant to feel more like a personal productivity tool than a punishment. That mindset was clear from the way our trial was structured: we could take breaks from the restrictions as often as we wanted, with no penalty for doing so. This flexibility helped the app feel less like a monitoring system and more like a tool for managing attention.

Still, the experience wasn’t perfect. Some of Trevor’s required settings unexpectedly locked apps that are genuinely important for daily school life. Spotify, for instance, is a go-to app for many students. It’s not just for music but for audiobooks, for reading, and for managing background noise while completing work at school. However, under Opal, it was blocked. Even the calculator app, a practical aid for STEM classes, couldn't be accessed without taking an Opal-enabled “break.” These restrictions complicated once-simple tasks.

As for Opal’s extracurricular impact, my personal screen-time data only shifted slightly. I did see a minor decrease, but not enough to indicate that there were any dramatic changes in my daily routine. Part of that may be because the trial allowed unlimited breaks, meaning students could bypass restrictions whenever they felt like they needed to. Without real limits, the app served more as a reminder than a barrier.

The administration has stated that when Opal officially rolls out school-wide, the system will include some kind of break limit. That change could make the policy more effective, but it also raises questions about how strict the school should be when it comes to regulating students’ devices. There’s a fine balance between encouraging focus and creating frustration, especially when apps important to student life get caught in the crossfire.

Overall, the trial revealed both the potential and the limitations of using technology to control technology. Opal can help students become more aware of their screen habits, but its usefulness ultimately depends on how it’s implemented. A thoughtful rollout–one that takes into account student input, class needs, and the reality of how we use our phones–will be essential.

According to Trevor administrators and Student Council representatives, seniors can expect to be part of a second trial phase starting in late January, which will test more finalized settings before the full policy goes into effect.