Dec 8, 2024 By Jon Andreassi 5 min read

The smartphone is a powerful tool, offering a near limitless pool of information, good and bad, at your fingertips.

That also makes it a powerful distraction.

Some school districts have implemented policies cracking down on cellphone use during the school day in an effort to make students more engaged in the classroom, and to help make the lessons stick.

Washington School District is two years into its cellphone ban across all district buildings, property and school buses. At the beginning of the school day, junior high school and high school students are required to lock their phones in Yondr pouches. The pouches can be retrieved at the end of the day by touching the magnetic lock of the pouch to an unlocking station.

“I believe it has made a positive difference,” said Superintendent George Lammay. “We didn’t have a naive notion about it, though. When you put restrictions and limits on kids who have had unlimited access to something, they are going to struggle with that a little bit.”

Lammay added that some students have found ways to skirt the system, but for the most part the kids have adjusted to the new policy.

“Our objective was not to be punitive, or not to be overly rigid. Our point was that we wanted to be able to have full attention from kids on instruction. I think we have achieved that.

“It’s a shame we need to use the Yondr pouches. I always saw (cellphones) as a distraction from the beginning. I’m glad a lot of people around the country are seeing it the same way. I think some people have an addiction to cellphones.”

Lee Bigelow, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade math in the district, said she has seen an improvement in students’ classroom engagement since the enactment of the policy.

Even the kids who manage to keep their phones out of the pouches are better about keeping their phones silent and out of sight.

“Their phones aren’t in their pockets vibrating or whatever. We’re seeing less issues socially as well. I feel like there is a lot more focus on what is going on in the classroom,” Bigelow said.

In a Pew Research study conducted last year, 72% of high school teachers said cellphone use is a major problem in classrooms.

Studies conducted by the National Institute of Health have provided some insight into how excessive smartphone use affects children and teenagers.

According to the NIH, nearly 84% of 16- to- 19-year-olds have smartphones, and 37% reported having “smartphone addiction.” One NIH study found a “significant negative relationship” between how often a person thinks about their phone and memory recall.

Not all educators agree on the best way to approach the issue of smartphones, however.

Jefferson-Morgan School District in Greene County has differing policies for students in grades K-8 and high school.

Superintendent Brandon Robinson said the younger students have a strict no cellphone policy, but in the high school it is left to the discretion of each teacher.

Robinson admitted he has a “unique” perspective on the issue.

“For high school students, we have to teach them how to use them appropriately in the world they are going into. I am not personally a fan of the pouches,” Robinson said.

For better or worse, smartphones have become an integral part of daily life for most people. Robinson points out these devices can be strong educational tools, but that people have to be discerning about the sources from which they pull information.

“We have a job to teach them how to live in a world with their cellphone,” Robinson said. “We prepare students for their next step after high school.

As students graduate and go on to continue their education, Robinson wants them to be cognizant of the fact that staying off their phones and focused on their lectures is entirely their own responsibility.

“Nobody is going to tell you to put your cellphone away,” Robinson said.

In Fayette County, Laurel Highlands School District implemented cellphone restrictions for this school year. Students in the district are required to have their phones turned off before getting on a bus or entering a school building. In school, phones must be kept in lockers or designated areas.

Superintendent Dr. Jesse Wallace III said the students adjusted to the policy fairly quickly, and they are already seeing improvements in the classroom.

“What we’ve seen just now from observation, what has happened since August is we have a more conducive learning environment. Students are engaging the staff more in the classroom,” Wallace said.

One issue the restriction seems to have been effective in quelling is the distraction created by social media use during school hours.

Wallace says the district has “run the gamut” in dealing with the various ways internet drama can spill over into real life.

“Inappropriate types of language back and forth. Students threatening to fight each other. Boyfriends, girlfriends breaking up in the middle of the day. There have been disagreements that have led to physical altercations between students. That seems to consume what they’re doing instead of what’s happening in the classroom,” Wallace said.

Now, Wallace says, these types of issues have “evaporated” this year.

“A lot of those pretty much dissipated. Students are having healthier types of conversations. It has become a cleaner and more robust learning environment,” Wallace said.