Banning cellphones in school doesn’t go far enough in some districts

When she got to high school last fall, Isabella found the problem was even worse: a lackluster Spirit Week and classes where students rarely spoke.

In a way, it’s like the students “care less and less about what people think, but also somehow care more,” Isabella, 14, said. Some teens, she said, no longer care about appearing unhinged, while others are so afraid of ridicule that they keep it to themselves. She blames social media and the lingering isolation of the post-Covid era.

Educators say their tried-and-true lesson plans are no longer enough to keep students engaged at a time of struggling mental health, shortened attention spans, reduced attendance and worsening academic performance. At the heart of these challenges? Addiction to mobile phones. Now, adults are trying new strategies to reverse the malaise.

Cell phone bans are gaining momentum, but many say they’re not enough. They argue for alternative stimulation: directing students outdoors or toward extracurriculars to fill the time they might otherwise spend alone online. And students need outlets, they say, to talk about taboo topics without fear of being “written off” on social media.

“To engage students now, you have to be very, very creative,” said Wilbur Higgins, lead English teacher at Dartmouth High School, where Isabella will be a sophomore this fall.

Close-I

Mobile phone bags, lockers and bins have grown in popularity to help enforce device bans.

John Nguyen, a chemistry teacher in California, invented the pouch system because he was so disturbed by bullying and fights on phones during class, often without adult intervention. Many teachers fear confronting students who use phones during lessons, Nguyen said, and others have given up trying to stop them.

At Nguyen’s school, students seal their phones in neoprene bags during class or even throughout the day. The teacher’s or principal’s magnetic key unlocks the bags.

It doesn’t matter how dynamic the lesson is, said Nguyen, who teaches at Marina Valley High School and now markets the bags to other schools. “There is nothing that can compete with the mobile phone.”

do something (something else)

Some schools are also banning smart watches and wireless headphones. But the bags don’t work once the final bell rings.

So in Spokane, Wash., schools are ramping up extracurriculars to compete with after-hours phones.

An initiative launched this month, “Engage IRL” — in real life — aims to give every student something to look forward to after the school day, whether it’s a sport, performing arts or club.

“Seclusion at home every day after school for hours on end on a personal device has become normalized,” said Superintendent Adam Swinyard.

Students can form clubs around interests like board games and knitting, or participate in neighborhood basketball leagues. Teachers will help students make a plan to get involved during back-to-school conferences, the district says.

“From 3 to 5:30 you’re in a club, you’re in a sport, you’re at an activity,” instead of on a phone, Swinyard said. (The district has a new ban on phones during class, but will allow them after school.)

In a time of high absenteeism, he also hopes the activities will be the extra push some students need to attend school. In a Gallup poll last November, only 48 percent of middle or high school students said they felt motivated to go to school, and only 52 percent felt they were doing something interesting each day. The survey was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which also supports environmental journalism at the AP.

Vivian Mead, a rising senior from Spokane, said having more after-school activities helps, but it won’t work for everyone. “There are definitely some people who just want to be by themselves, listen to their music, do their own thing or, like, be on the phone,” Vivian, 17, said.

Her 15-year-old sister Alexandra said the morning counseling sessions have improved participation in the drama club that keeps the sisters busy. “It forces everyone, even if they don’t want to get involved, to try something and maybe it clicks,” she said.

Get out

Thirteen middle schools in Maine took a similar approach, bringing students outdoors for a total of 35,000 hours during a selected week in May.

It’s encouraging for students to connect with each other in nature, away from screens, said Tim Pearson, a physical education and health teacher. His students at Dedham School participated in the nationwide “Life Happens Outside” challenge.

Teachers adapted their lessons to be taught outdoors, and students bonded outdoors during lunch and recess. At night, about half of Dedham’s students camped out, fueled by a pizza party. Several students told Pearson they camped out again after the challenge.

“Whether they had phones with them or not, they’re setting fires, setting up their tents,” Pearson said. “They’re doing things outside that obviously aren’t on social media or texting.”

Prayer to parents

Parents also need to make changes to their family’s cell phone culture, some teachers say. At home, Ohio teacher Aaron Taylor bans cell devices when his kids have friends over.

And when kids are at school, parents shouldn’t distract them with check-in messages throughout the day, he said.

“Students are so connected to their families,” said Taylor, who teaches at Westerville North High School near Columbus. “There’s this anxiety of not being able to contact them, rather than appreciating the freedom of being alone for eight hours or with your friends.”

Fight Fears of Being “Cancelled”

Some say other forces behind teen disengagement are only amplified by the cell phone. The divisive political climate often makes students reluctant to attend classes when anything they say can spread around the school on a messaging app.

High school English students tell Taylor they don’t speak up in class because they don’t want to be “outed” — a term applied to public figures who are silenced or boycotted after offensive opinions or speech.

“I’m like, ‘Well, who’s canceling you?’ And why would you be cancelled? We’re talking about “The Great Gatsby,” not a controversial political topic, he said.

Students “get very, very quiet” when topics like sexuality, gender or politics come up in novels, said Higgins, the Massachusetts English teacher. “Eight years ago, you had shot hands everywhere. No one wants to be labeled a certain way or ridiculed or called out for politics anymore.”

So Higgins uses websites like Parlay that allow students to chat anonymously online. The services are expensive, but Higgins believes the class commitment is worth it.

“I can see who I am when I answer questions and things, but other students can’t,” Higgins said. “This can be very, very powerful.”

Alarmed by her classmates’ disengagement, Higgins’ student Isabella wrote an op-ed in her school newspaper.

“Preventing future generations from joining this same downward cycle is up to us,” she wrote.

A comment on the post highlighted the challenge and what’s at stake.

“All in all,” the commenter wrote, “why should we care?”