About seven in ten (72 percent) high school teachers say that students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem in their classroom. Parents feel less strongly, as the majority (56 percent) say that students should sometimes be allowed to use their cellphones in school.
This difference of opinion was one reason that I recently attended a packed session at the National Charter Schools Conference in Boston. Called The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Restricting Cellphone Use: Lessons from School Leaders, it gave an unvarnished account of precisely what the title promised. Presenters included the founder of a charter management organization, Dana Teasley, President of GEO Academies (Indianapolis, IN), and two principals, Dawn Cobb-Fossnes of Ocean Academy Charter School (Bridgeton, NJ) and Othiniel Mahone of GEO Academies 21st Century School (Gary, IN).
Plenty of schools say they don’t allow students to have their phones out during class. But many teachers will tell you that’s lip service. This particular panel talked about policies with teeth, meaning all phones are stored away in a separate location for the entire day, sometimes called “away for the day.”
Here are three things that I learned from this battle-tested trio about how to implement a phone ban in middle and high schools.
1. Overcommunicate before you take action.
Over and over, the trio told us that you’ve got to set the stage for the policy long before it’s implemented or “the parents will be livid!” (Recent articles echo this recommendation.)
So leaders formed voluntary committees at their schools to discuss potential cellphone policy changes, with representation from administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Every household also received multiple phone calls letting them know about this ongoing dialogue. Newsletters and social media helped to get the word out, too. In the interim, students had to conduct research about why banning cellphones in class was a good idea (no alternate thesis was allowed!). As part of that assignment, they had to interview a fellow student, a parent or guardian, and another adult about the potential drawbacks to phones in schools and how to address any concerns the interviewees had.
In addition to the committees, school leaders held multiple meetings to solicit parental input. At those meetings, they summarized the research on cellphone use and the negative repercussions for kids. They distributed handouts with the draft cellphone policy and told parents bluntly that they were part of the problem: “We’ve got to stop you from texting your kids during class!” Parents chuckled, but the message was received.
In the three weeks leading up to the policy’s implementation, administrators sent email reminders to parents every other day about the upcoming ban and how it would be carried out. Some might say that’s overkill. But the panelists were adamant that students and parents needed ample notice and time to prepare for the culture change. Students continued to push back, 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.
Once the scheduled “banning” day actually arrived, the school was blanketed with signs at entrances, classroom doors, and hallways reminding everyone that phones were off limits.
2. Nail down the process by which phones will be collected and returned—and consequences for noncompliance.
Presenters shared how their prior efforts had failed and why. They’d tried “green and red zones” for phone use—think green for cafeteria and red for the classroom—but it was far too hard to monitor. They’d tried pricey lockable pouches that stored students’ phones for the day and could be reopened only at an “unlocking base” at the final bell. But some kids still managed to open them by damaging them. Or they brought in burner phones (no kidding) to put in the pouch while their real phone stayed with them. Or they forgot to unlock their phone at school, took the pouch home, and had their parents calling the school at 7 p.m.
The winning storage solution ending up being a wood box in each homeroom that costs about 40 bucks on Amazon (also known as a cellphone locker). No, it didn’t solve the burner phone issue, but it did address some of the other headaches. The panel’s advice: Keep it simple.
Students had to check in and turn over their phones first thing in the morning during homeroom. The homeroom teacher was responsible for collecting and locking them in the box. Devices had to be picked up at the end of the day in the same homeroom class.
Panelists told us that enforcement was key for both teachers and students. If the homeroom teacher failed to collect the phones, the principal was quick to pay her a visit. If that teacher was absent, an administrator would collect the phones instead, as opposed to asking a wavering substitute to do it. Enforcement at the kid level meant swift and clear consequences for any phone use at any time during the school day and any place in the school—and purposely included inconveniencing their parents.
To wit, the cellphone policy at GEO Academies 21st Century reads as follows:
The school is not responsible for personal devices or cellphones, so while we do make an effort to keep them secure, it is still the responsibility of the student to follow policies responsibly. Again, we strongly recommend the device not be brought to school at all.
This policy has been developed with the input of students, teachers, and parents, and there will be NO exceptions to it:
First warning: Parent must pick up phone and Saturday school detention.
Second warning: Parent must pick up phone and an out-of-school suspension.
Third warning: Parent must pick up phone and an out-of-school suspension and possible expulsion.
Administrators already had in place Saturday school detention. Besides punishment for behavioral infractions, it was used as mandatory make-up time for those students who had missed too many days. So it made sense to use it for cellphone infractions, as well. Classroom teachers were paid extra to monitor Saturday school.
Not long after, the policy was expanded to include other outside electronic devices. Without their phones, students had started using their watches, tablets, and other personal computers for their preferred distractions. But because the schools had one-to-one computing programs (where each student was provided with a laptop to access the internet and digital course materials), there was no need for outside electronics.
3. Don’t exempt teachers’ phones.
For the ban to be successful, they told us that it had to be an adult policy, too. So teachers also locked up their phones so that everyone was in it together. It was important for them to be models for their students. And the kids rather enjoyed keeping the teachers accountable if they caught them with their phones!
Make no mistake: It was a difficult adjustment for the educators, as well. After all, we adults are no strangers to cellphone obsession. But if teachers didn’t buy into the ban and have to abide by it, they’d be accused of hypocrisy and risk losing credibility with the students.
Some will say that teachers need their phones in case of classroom emergencies. But there’s nothing stopping them from using two-way radios, landline phones in classrooms, computer-based alert systems, or old-fashioned panic buttons. Intercom systems are also a mainstay in schools, and some even have digital displays throughout the building that can be used to broadcast emergency messages.
Others might say there’s no need to treat the adults like the children. But this seems like one of those issues where it’s important to lead by example.
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It’s been just seven months since these schools started banning cellphones. That’s not terribly long, but panelists shared that they are already seeing benefits. There’s been a decrease in fighting, bullying, and cheating. Kids are more engaged and productive in their classes, and some appear less distressed.
In the end, we can’t turn back time and put the genie back in the bottle. But we can lock her out of schools and put her in a box.
