When David Rounds’ school district in eastern New York decided to pass a policy to keep students’ cellphones in sealed pouches all day, he thought it was an overreach. After several months of observing the change in school culture, however, he changed his mind—and now he supports guidance from the state government or national teachers’ union on restricting cellphone use during the day.
“I think if there’s a collective response to it, I do think it makes it easier on the individual school districts to enforce the policy,” said Rounds, who teaches at Bethlehem High School in Delmar, N.Y. and is president of his local union. “When you’re an outcast district, like we were this year, I think it opens you up to a little bit more criticism.”
At least seven states have enacted legislation or adopted policies to restrict cellphone use in schools, and some large school districts, such as Los Angeles Unified, have moved in that direction. But many districts and schools are left to devise their own strategies for dealing with cellphones, with mixed uptake in classrooms. Teachers lack professional development to manage cellphones, and some seek more guidance from a higher level.
The restrictions come as a reversal to pre-COVID ambitions of incorporating cellphones into instruction, or letting students use them in downtime. But with concerns over rising mental health challenges linked to teenagers’ and children’s use of social media and disciplinary issues tied to cellphones, there’s been an increased action to restrict or ban the devices.
It was a topic that was due to arise at this year’s National Education Association representative assembly—a conference that brings together thousands of teacher delegates from across the country to deliberate some of the most pressing concerns for educators—but it never did after the assembly was cut short when the union’s staff went on strike.
NEA members ask union for ‘strong’ policies on cellphones and smartwatches in classrooms
One proposed new business item—an item delegates vote on that directs the NEA to do something for a year, but isn’t a permanent statement of belief—asks the union to compile information on best practices for cellphones and then develop “strong unambiguous policies regarding the possession and use of cellphones and smartwatches in classrooms.”
Though delegates did not vote on the item earlier this month, the union’s board of directors is expected to vote on nearly 100 outstanding new business items, or NBIs, although the NEA has not said when that will happen, and did not respond to EdWeek’s request for comment.
Melinda Person, one of the educators behind the cellphone business item and president of the New York State United Teachers, said that rank-and-file union members in New York kept bringing up the impact of cellphones in the classroom and feeling that they were, in their words, “the cellphone police.”
“We’re really looking for some direction at the national level for what is the best practice, what is the way to go with a real focus on what’s best for our students, what’s best for kids,” she said.
Matt Dado, a robotics and engineering teacher at Quaker Valley High School in Leetsdale, Pa., studied cellphones in classrooms for his doctorate and found that many of the teachers he spoke to didn’t feel prepared to handle cellphones in the classroom. Even when he was going to college to become a teacher, no one brought up the possibility of grappling with cellphones once he would become a teacher, he said.
And there’s so much variation in how districts—or even each teacher—handles the issue. Some teachers he spoke to had cellphone pockets to keep them out of student’s hands during class; others allowed for them to be out for music or to search for an answer.
Eventually, he said, he thinks some higher-level decisionmaking, either by the legislature or the union, may be necessary.
“I think now more than ever, post-COVID, you could make the case students no longer need access to a cellphone because they have access to a device which was, pre-COVID, the reason for bringing a [cellphone] into the classroom,” he said.
School climate improved after strict cellphone policies took effect
When Rounds’ district in New York considered the policy, he was one of the outspoken educators who felt it was unnecessary. The district had a policy where cellphones had to be tucked into a pocket hung up in each classroom, which he felt was sufficient and perhaps just needed universal enforcement.
After the new policy took effect this year, Rounds remembers noticing how loud the hallways had gotten. He realized it was because no one was on their phones. Halfway through the school year, he realized he hadn’t had to police a single student’s use of their phone.
“Anecdotally, I feel like there was a lot less stress and anxiety this year than there had been in the previous few years,” he said. “I wish I had a way to quantify that better. It’s just I’ve been doing this a long time, and you get a pretty good vibe for your school and building after all those years, and the whole building felt more relaxed and generally happier this year in terms of the students.”
(The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which represents eligible staff of Education Week, previously issued a statement of support for the NEA staff union. Education Week is an independent, nonpartisan media organization whose newsroom managers retain editorial control over the content of articles.)
