When Ballard High School in Louisville, Ky., restricted the use of cellphones, principal Jason Neuss expected student interaction to improve. He also hoped students would engage more with their teachers and the material. What he couldn鈥檛 have predicted, though, was a 61% jump in the number of books checked out from the school鈥檚 library.
Neuss investigated the sudden increase and learned that students 鈥渉ad a lot more time that they can dedicate to the readings. 鈥� They鈥檙e not as distracted with the phone.鈥�
Like countless schools across the country, Ballard High began restricting cellphone use during the school day at the start of this school year. With winter break approaching, Neuss is happy that the library has become a 鈥渟ocial hub鈥� where kids hang out and talk to each other, now that they aren鈥檛 distracted by their phones. Plus, Neuss has noticed 鈥減eer conflicts鈥� that would start online over the weekend and spill over into the school day have become less common.
At least 32 states and the District of Columbia now require schools to ban or restrict students鈥� use of cellphones, according to an Education Week tally. Limiting cellphone use during instructional time, and in some cases, throughout the whole school day, has improved student engagement in class and resulted in fewer disciplinary issues, 糖心动漫vlog report and some preliminary studies confirm. No cellphones in class helps teachers, too鈥攅arly research has indicated that cellphone bans can reduce rates of teacher burnout.
At Argyle Middle School, a tech magnet school in Layhill, Md., improved student engagement hasn鈥檛 been the only positive effect. Principal James Allrich said he鈥檚 seen some long-forgotten student interests reemerge this year.
鈥淭here are a lot more students playing chess during lunch. I鈥檝e also seen them carry around Rubik鈥檚 cubes,鈥� Allrich said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if there鈥檚 a correlation with the [cellphone] ban, but for years, I just hadn鈥檛 seen a lot of kids doing these things.鈥�
It鈥檚 important to physically separate students from their phones, principals say
A school鈥檚 cellphone policy can鈥檛 be static. Principals check in regularly to see what鈥檚 working and what isn鈥檛.
At Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor, Maine, principal Matt Haney started the school year with one major tweak to the school鈥檚 cellphone policy: Students coming into a class must deposit their phones into a slotted bin and can only pick them up after class. Earlier, students had to keep their phones 鈥渙ut of sight鈥� during class but could keep them nearby. This meant that students could still easily be distracted by notifications or texts when their phones buzzed.
鈥淛ust physically having a separation from the tangible device has made a big difference this year,鈥� said Haney.
Early research confirms this observation: A survey of 20,000 teachers from across the country found that policies that require students to store their phones in pouches or lockers鈥攔ather than in their pockets or backpacks鈥攁re linked to more focused classrooms.
Last year, students at Mount Desert Island High could also carry their phones out of class and text each other in the hallways or the bathroom. Now, without their phones available to tempt them to step out of the classroom, Haney said students are more tuned into their classes.
At Ballard High, Neuss said he鈥檚 seen more teachers ask for phone cases and pouches for their classrooms. Ballard鈥檚 policy lets students keep their phones with them, but they must be turned off and put away during class. Teachers write up students who defy the policy in class, and if they are seen with their phones a second time, an assistant principal goes into the classroom to confiscate it.
With more teachers collecting phones in pouches or bins, the pressure has eased on assistant principals, Neuss said.
鈥淐ellphones make up 38% of our disciplinary issues right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y hope is that as the year progresses, more teachers keep these cases on hand, and they can just put the cellphone away and get on [with the class].鈥�
Argyle Middle School, in Maryland, had a major shift in policy this year: The school introduced a bell-to-bell ban, instead of just during class.
Allrich initially resisted the idea.
鈥淲e are a tech magnet. We teach students how to build apps,鈥� he said. "[The ban] felt contradictory and opposite to our work around teaching kids how to be responsible users of technology.鈥�
But the principal relented when teachers pushed back on the partial ban, saying it was too hard to enforce. Immediately, he said, there was a noticeable difference when the school switched to the bell-to-bell policy. Administrators got fewer calls to pick up cellphones from classrooms.
鈥淚 thought that with a complete ban, students would be using their phones more. We had pushed back on the ban, and we were proven wrong this year. We acknowledged as much to our teachers,鈥� Allrich said.
Cellphone restrictions can gradually change student behavior
Schools may have different approaches to limiting cellphone use, but the goal, said principals, is to help students develop a productive relationship with technology.
Andre Hauser, the principal of Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, Conn., said it is important to clearly differentiate instructional from non-instructional time. (Amity High allows students to use their phones outside of instructional time.)
Hauser said feedback from teachers helped shape the cellphone policy and close any loopholes. For instance, when students are on a field trip, the ride to a museum wouldn鈥檛 be considered instructional time, but once students arrive, they have to put their phones away.
It was also crucial to get student buy-in at the beginning of the school year. During the first week, Hauser spoke with students about why removing distractions would improve their focus on learning. He also checks in regularly with students about limiting their cellphone use in school.
鈥淪tudents tell me there鈥檚 no incentive to rush though their work anymore because they can鈥檛 scroll or check their socials in class,鈥� Hauser said.
Even teens who resented the rules at first have begrudgingly told Hauser that they鈥檝e benefited from the restrictions.
Outside the classroom, too, Hauser said there are subtle differences in how students interact with each other, even with a phone in their hand. During lunch, for instance, students will show each other videos or share music, as a way of interacting with their friends, rather than being completely isolated on their individual phone screens.
Haney, too, has found that limiting the use of phones in class can have positive impacts outside it. Students aren鈥檛 glued to their phones the minute they can access them.
鈥淵ou see kids looking at each other in the eyes and talking. They might show each other a video,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not like a bunch of teenagers staring at their phone and not interacting.鈥�
Principals like Neuss and Allrich are also working toward introducing more activities during lunch to keep students engaged. Neuss said Friday afternoon Bingo has been a hit, and Allrich is looking forward to playing more chess and board games with his students.
Ultimately, principals say they want their policies to be more than just deterrents鈥攖hey want to see students develop healthier habits around cellphone use.
鈥淎s a school, the question becomes, how do we better support students in making sure that they keep the phones away,鈥� said Neuss, 鈥渁nd that they use them appropriately when they鈥檙e allowed to?鈥�
