A School Cellphone Ban That Sticks

??????????? In this Education Gadfly article, Amber Northern says that in a recent survey, 72 percent of high-school teachers said student cellphones were a major problem in their classrooms. Northern recently attended a presentation by three middle- and high-school leaders who successfully implemented an “away for the day” cellphone policy during the 2023-24 school year. The schools reported a decrease in fighting, bullying, cheating, and emotional distress, with students more engaged and productive in their classes.

These schools had tried “red” and “green” cellphone zones (classrooms, cafeteria) and found that approach impossible to monitor. They also tried Yondr magnet-secured pouches, but students figured out ways to unlock them or insert burner phones while keeping their “real” phones in their pockets or purses. Some students forgot to unlock the pouches and called the school at 7 p.m., desperate to liberate their phones.

After these unsuccessful attempts, the schools decided that all cellphones would be stored in a secure location for the entire school day and implemented the policy successfully. Here are the leaders’ nuts-and-bolts recommendations:

??????????? ? Overcommunicate before implementing. Parents will be “livid,” they said, unless the stage is set well before the new policy is implemented (the survey mentioned above found that 56 percent of parents said students should sometimes be allowed to use cellphones in school). The schools formed a voluntary committee with representation from administrators, teachers, parents, and students to sharpen the rationale for a ban. They used phone calls, a newsletter, and social media to inform every household about the rationale as the dialogue unfolded. Student members of the committee interviewed peers and did research focused on the many problems caused by cellphones in school.

In a series of meetings, drafts of the policy were shared, and parents were bluntly told that they would not be able to text their children during class (parents chuckled and got the message). In the three weeks prior to rollout, school leaders sent e-mail reminders every other day with details and consequences for violations. “Students continued to push back,” reports Northern, “but given the incessant communication and multiple opportunities to weigh in, parents were fully aware of the policy (even if they weren’t 100 percent on board) and no longer squabbled with their kids about it.” On the day the policy was launched, there were numerous reminder signs at the schools’ entrances, hallways, and classrooms.

? Set up a system for collecting, storing, and returning phones, with consequences for noncompliance. After much debate, the schools decided on simple wooden boxes (available on Amazon for about $40) to store cellphones. Homeroom teachers were responsible for checking students in during first period, getting all phones into the box (turned off), locking it, and being there for students to pick up their phones at the end of the day (with substitute teachers, principals took responsibility for the boxes). Consistent enforcement was key, with illicit cellphones confiscated and parents required to pick them up (one school had escalating consequences, including Saturday school and out-of-school suspension for second and third offenses).

? Teachers’ phones, too. The schools believed that including teachers in the policy was vital to its credibility and success – everyone was in the same boat, learning how to keep their cellphone obsession at bay for six hours a day and being present with the humans around them. Didn’t teachers need cellphones for emergencies? When necessary, they used the intercom, two-way radios, landline phones, computer-based alert systems, and old-fashioned panic buttons. Teachers found it a difficult adjustment, but in the seven months of implementation, they reported real success.

?“How to Implement a Cellphone Ban in Schools” by Amber Northern in Education Gadfly, July 25, 2024, summarized in Marshall Memo 1047