When it comes to banning cell phones in schools, the details may determine success.
Would the ban apply only to classrooms, or also to hallways, bathrooms and cafeterias, where students are more likely to be obsessed with TikTok or texting?
When cell phones are used as part of a lesson, are teachers free to ignore the ban? Should school districts purchase devices to lock or hide cell phones? What about other types of screen distractions like laptops, tablets and smartwatches? And what about parents who like the idea of ​​being able to contact their kids 24/7?
These are just some of the questions facing California Governor Gavin Newsom after he announced that his state would follow Florida and Indiana in moving forward with a cellphone ban in schools.
Teachers who have tried to limit cellphone use on their own say it's hard to enforce because the devices are so ingrained in everyday life and seen as necessary for practical and emotional reasons.But some districts with comprehensive policies have overcome resistance and seen success in changing student behavior.
Naomi Frierson, 44, a fifth-grade teacher in the Tampa, Florida, district, said little had changed for her since Gov. Ron DeSantis imposed a statewide ban on smartphones in the classroom last year. She already required her students to keep their cell phones in a storage pouch hung on the wall away from their desks.
But she added that she understands that cellphones are a useful communication tool for students who walk home from school alone or who care for younger siblings in the afternoon.
And as a parent herself, she said she empathizes with the fear of not being able to reach your children in the event of an emergency or a worst-case scenario like a school shooting.
Frierson's daughter, Eliana, 17, felt even more strongly. She said banning smartphones all day was an overreaction, noting that her daughter often used her phone to complete her schoolwork.
“This is an essential part of education,” Eliana said. “It's a really useful tool and to take that away would be wrong.”
Smartphones are often a part of the classroom, especially in high school: Foreign language classes have instant access to Google Translate, calculus classes have online graphing calculators, and many teenagers write essays and other assignments on their phones.
Some students noted that adults seem to be just as addicted to their phones as teenagers. Ana Sofia Tiberia Lozano, 16, said she would like to see more consistency in policies between students and teachers. “The older generation always thinks the newer generation is more troublesome,” she said.
Eric Schildoge, an eighth-grade English teacher in Newburyport, Massachusetts, said he often tells kids to pull out their cell phones and text their parents if they're missing a permission slip or homework.
“It seems incredibly shortsighted to me that the governor would mandate something like this,” Schildoji said. “I don't see this as the most viable way for me to do my job as an educator.”
He acknowledged that technology can cause problems in schools, but said the problem goes beyond cellphones. In one of his classes, students blindly played the browser-based video game “Slope” on school-issued Chromebooks. He frequently told them to close their computers. But over time, he said, he found that engaging, hands-on lessons were the best antidote to screen time.
This year, his students read either Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird” or Colson Whitehead's “The Nickel Boys,” then created physical book reports with fancy covers.
“The kids really enjoyed being able to make something with their hands.”
Newsom's announcement is part of growing national concern about young people's use of cellphones and social media. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has said social media platforms should carry warning labels like those on cigarette packs. In his best-selling book, “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that parents should delay letting their children use smartphones and that schools should severely limit their use.
Sabine Pollack, a Pennsylvania parent and founder of the group No Phones in Schools, said in an email that Newsom's announcement was “great news” but she wanted more details.
She said the use of mobile phones should be banned anywhere on campus during lessons and students breaking the rule should have their phones confiscated immediately.
She added that teens often use mobile phones secretly, hidden in backpacks, so mobile phones should be physically locked away.
Some schools use cell phone pouches called Yondr, which are locked or unlocked by school staff but can be carried by students all day.
Such equipment is rented annually: Bethlehem High School in Delmar, a suburb of Albany, New York, spent $26,773 on 1,400 pouches last school year.
of Superintendent Jodi Monroe said she was very pleased with the results, noting that teachers no longer had to spend class time negotiating with students about cellphone use and that it improved the social atmosphere throughout the school building.
“When cell phones were allowed, there was an eerie silence that may not have been noticeable at the time,” she said in an email. “It's no longer like that.”
Dozens of parents who initially complained about the policy have now quieted down, and some have even admitted they were wrong, she added.
Patrick Franklin, a high school history teacher in Longview, East Texas, tried to institute his own ban requiring students to store their cell phones in a separate area of ​​the classroom, but gave up because of the separation anxiety it caused.
“I'd love to live in a world where cell phones don't exist,” he said of mobile phones, “but that's not the reality I have to deal with. I can't wish for a world where cell phones don't permeate every part of society.”
Liz Shulman, a high school English teacher in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, said she's noticed in the past few months that more parents are acknowledging that their teenagers shouldn't have cellphones in class.
But some parents still want ongoing communication, and Schulman said he welcomes action from lawmakers like Newsom.
“It's going to force everyone to focus – administrators, teachers, parents,” she said.
But there may also be a backlash. Diana Courtney of Capitola, California, had planned to buy cell phones for her twins, Zoe and Luke, on their 12th birthday in August, when the middle school they attended received a bomb threat.
“Yeah, it's definitely sped up the timeline,” Courtney said, adding that the phone “gives them a little bit more independence and is kind of a shield for me in a way.”
