ICYM: Carson City School District may be considering a phone ban for middle, high schoolers

Across the country, and the world, school districts are taking a look at their cell phone use policies and in many cases, banning cell phone usage in schools outright.

Rumor has it the Carson City School District is considering a similar policy change, though official word has not been announced one way or the other.

While ten+ years ago it may have been the policy to take phones from students if they were caught using them in class, in recent years, many districts have embraced cell phone usage in the classroom. In some cases, cell phones are used by students for calculators, snapping photos of white boards, and even accessing quiz apps and collaborating with other students.

However, now the question of negatives outweighing the benefits of phones in classrooms has led to many districts and, in some cases, whole countries nixing them.

For example, several countries, including France, Israel, Turkey, and regions of Canada and Australia, have introduced policies that mandate public schools to prohibit smartphone use during the school day.

In the U.S., Florida passed a law banning cellphone use in the classroom, with Vermont and Kansas beginning the process as well.

There have been few studies on the actual impact of banning classroom phone uses, but there have been reports from teachers and administration across the world on what they see as being negative impacts of students using their phones.

The most obvious is distractibility. One study indicates that for each 100 minutes students spend using their phones per day, there’s a corresponding negative impact on the student’s school ranking by 6.3 points. In addition, if that usage is done during class time versus during free time, that number nearly doubles.

However, there are other consequences of classroom usage of cell phones. One consideration researchers looked at was bullying. One study found that banning cell phones during school hours had a noticeable decrease in bullying, especially among ages 12- to 17-year-old students.

The same study found an increase in students’ scores in both math and science once the ban took place.

If the Carson City School District decides to take on a ban, they won’t be the first.

At the end of this last school year, Clark County announced they would be instituting a ban for middle schoolers and high schoolers.

Types of Bans, Parents' responses

Types of bans bring on different reactions. While parents are often against complete bans — meaning cell phones are not on school property — other bans, such as placing phones within locking or signal-blocking pouches are better received.

When learning of the rumor earlier this summer, parents on social media had mixed responses.

Some parents cheered the idea, stating phone usage within schools was out of control. Many parents suggested students would use their phones less if all students had to — the fear of missing out on what’s going on keeps kids repeatedly checking their phones.

However, other parents responded negatively, stating it was their right to be able to contact their child whenever they needed to, and the school shouldn’t get in the way.

Some parents even went so far as to say they would send their kids with fake “burner” phones so they could keep their real phones at them at all times.

Something parents questioned was what would happen in the event of an emergency, such as a mass shooting. They said they were hesitant to be in favor of the policy if it meant not having access to their children during emergencies.

However, other school districts who have instituted the policy have made specific mention that students would be able to access their phones in emergency situations.

For example, the Clark County School District’s policy involves non-locking, signal-blocking pouches that students keep on them during class time. It puts the responsibility on the student, rather than locking them out entirely as other districts have done.

That way, in the event of an emergency — or lunchtime — students can easily remove their devices from the pouches to use.

In some districts with these types of pouches, additional disciplinary measures were added, such as taking the student’s phone if they were caught using it during class time.

Other districts, such as the Salians Union High School District, have taken it one step further, with locking pouches.

These pouches, known as Yondr pouches, are similarly kept with students all day, but must be placed in the pouch once on school ground. They remain locked until students tap the pouches against an unlocking station in order to retrieve the phone. Pouches are kept with students off-campus, and they are responsible for bringing them to school each day with their phones.

Yondr has already been utilized at over 1,200 schools nation-wide, and schools surveyed by the company state that they say an 82% increase in student engagement, a 72% positive change in student behavior, and a 68% positive change in academic performance.

In 2022, Pioneer Academy instituted a rule banning phones in the classroom which similarly resulted in mixed response from parents.

A memo was sent home to families stating that cell phones were to be turned off and turned into teachers upon entering each class, and that phones were not to be used in restrooms at any time. It stipulated that in the event of an emergency, phones would be immediately returned to students.

However, many parents on social media said this was too far. They said they would be fine with a policy not allowing phones in the classroom, but taking the phones from their students was unacceptable.

One parent said they told their student to lie to teachers about having her phone so they wouldn’t take it. Another said that phones are personal property and teachers have no right to take them.

Other parents pointed out that they all grew up without phones in school and were still able to get ahold of parents when needed.

“I love the new rule,” one parent wrote. “Kids are always depending on their phones and getting distracted … We never had phones growing up. If having the kids put up phones for class is helpful then so be it.”

“What do they need a phone in class for?” another commenter wrote. “I never had a phone when I went to school.”

Student Responses

Responses from current local middle and high schoolers were mixed.

“Honestly, I am all for it,” said Cadance, age 17. “It has its pros and cons but personally I feel like that will help people to engage more with their actual studies as well as their classmates.”

“It’s bullcrap,” said Brayden, age 16. “You can use your phone for bad things of course like to cheat and be distracted when they’re trying to teach, but that doesn’t mean they’re totally useless in class either.”

Brayden said one of the reason phones are important in the classroom is because the school-issued laptops don’t work as well as they should.

“I know personally I’ve had to use my phone in order to join quizzes, or math games, because the million-year-old laptops on the crappy wifi don't work, so I’ve had to use my phone. If I didn’t have my phone, I would’ve gotten a zero on my quiz.”

He echoed parents' sentiments about needing phones during an emergency, but more than that, he’s used his phone during the school day on a number of occasions to get paperwork signed or coordinate getting picked up for appointments.

“This last school year there was a lockdown, and if no one had their phones a lot less parents would’ve known what was going on,” Brayden said.

He said he understood the need to put phones away or have them taken during tests, but during normal class time or during breaks, he thinks the proposition is “absolutely ridiculous.”

“For the kids that use it because they don’t want to sit and learn in class, it’s not going to make those kids want to sit and learn any more than they already were,” he went on. “They’re just gonna be more disruptive and find other ways to distract themselves.”

He said the idea of taking phones from students would not increase a student’s desire to learn, but instead, would lead to behavioral issues.

“It’s just gonna irritate them,” he said.

A middle school student who splits his time between two households said a complete ban would be impossible for him.

"If they banned phones completely, how would I take my phone house to house?" asked Max, age 11. "What if other kids needed their phones for their parents to know where they are at all times? It’s okay to ban it during class time because kids use their phones and don’t get any work done."

In a recent New York Times poll, students with cell phone bans were asked their opinions, which returned with a mix of responses.

One student polled said he voluntarily chose to stop bringing his phone to school, instead opting for an apple watch so he could listen to music and message family in emergencies. He said he immediately felt more engaged in the classroom, and felt widespread phone bans would be a good thing for his district.

Another student pointed out that most of the problems she noticed in her peers circled back to cell phones. For example, she told the NYT, students would take photos or videos of each other without consent during school hours and post it to social media as a form of bullying.

While many students noted a lack of focus in the classroom, it may come as a surprise that nearly all students polled said phones caused a huge decrease in social interactions between students.

“It’s increasingly alarming and concerning that I have seen on many occasions a whole group of people sitting at a table, pressing away or scrolling on their phones, and all I hear is silence,” one student told the NYT.

Another student said seeing her peers bump into one another or even walls because they’re so focused on their phones is a normal occurrence.

However, other students said that while they would be in favor of a ban during class time, out right banning phones during school hours — including breaks — seems unfair.

One student suggested having designated quick break times during class time to check notifications, which would allow focused work time while also not “missing out” on important messages or notifications.

Another student said he uses his phone as a tool in the classroom, stating when given a writing assignment he would have the instructions pulled up on his phone while he wrote the assignment on his iPad.

Another student who grew up without a cellphone in the classroom but later transferred to a school where phones were allowed said it helped her in her school work because she could listen to music when she wanted to study, or could look up information for research.

At this time, it is not known when, if, or what method of a ban may be coming. Let us know your take on a potential ban in the comments below.