MINNEAPOLIS – The use of mobile phones in schools has sparked considerable debate among educators and policymakers across the country.
Florida and Indiana passed laws requiring public schools to prohibit students from using their cell phones during classes. In Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, Vermont, Connecticut, Virginia and South Carolina, lawmakers have introduced bills to restrict phones in schools this year. Georgia legislators legislation introduced that would restrict students’ use of social media while at school. In January, Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, sent a letter to school leaders across the state urging them to ban cell phones in class.
In Minnesota, lawmakers passed a education bill that includes the requirement that school districts create a phone policy. The Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association and the Minnesota Secondary School Principals Association “should collaborate to make available to schools best practices on a variety of different strategies to minimize the impact of cell phones on behavior, mental health and academic performance of students.” The guidance was part of an education policy bill.
Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, is leading the way. The school began working with the nonprofit LiveMore ScreenLess in 2022. They held focus groups with students and teachers and collaborated with parents and school leadership. After these conversations, the school implemented its new phone policy. Students may use their phones during lunch, but must have them turned off during class or they will be confiscated.
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“If they see you without your phone, they send you to the office and take away your phone for the day,” said Evangeline Fuentes, a high school junior. “Eventually, if you have your phone long enough, it won’t be available during the school year and you won’t be able to bring it to school or it will be kept in a little jail in front of our office.” (Fox News/Mills Hayes)
After implementation in 2023, some Two Rivers teachers say it has been a success. “I definitely saw a difference in my students this year, and it was much more fun to teach when students didn’t have the distraction of the phone,” one teacher said.
Katherine Myers is the CEO of LiveMore ScreenLess. Myers, a former teacher, realized that cell phones in schools were becoming the “Wild West.” The nonprofit trains teachers and school employees on digital well-being.
“Adults are very quick to tell students how bad their devices are. And that’s true, but what we forget are all those benefits,” Myers said. “As a community, we are all trying to support a broader goal of intentional and balanced use of technology.”
LiveMore ScreenLess has helped create digital wellness clubs in Minneapolis schools. Evangeline Fuentes, a junior at Two Rivers High School, joined her school’s club. The club meets monthly to discuss topics related to promoting a healthy relationship with technology and digital devices.
“A phone isn’t all bad, but you can go on Instagram and scroll through videos and laugh or find inspiring things or things you want to buy, things you want to bake,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes knows he doesn’t have the best self-control when it comes to his cell phone.
“I have Snapchat and I have Instagram. I delete it periodically. I feel like every girl or even guy likes to realize that it’s a little hard to compare, or all that, and they just like to see a constant feed or like, Oh, someone is on vacation. Someone isn’t,” Fuentes said.
When her high school implemented the new phone policy, she watched her screen time decrease.
“On the first day of school, we went over a new phone policy and you are not allowed to have your phone off from bell to bell,” Fuentes said. “I was focused. I wasn’t on my phone.”
Non-profit organization LiveMore ScreenLess awarded Two Rivers High School the award for Excellence in Commitment to Digital Wellbeing. LiveMore ScreenLess CEO Katherine Myers says the leadership of Principal Dr. Albert Johnson was essential for the high school to adopt a successful phone policy. Since protocol revisions, 90% of educators report an increase in student engagement. “We’ve had questions, but not rejections. It’s been a great opportunity to connect with families,” Dr. Johnson said. (Live plus no screen/Katherine Myers)
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If the phone is in class, it goes to cell phone jail.
“It’s nice to talk to people and not have the pressure of being on the phone,” Fuentes said of the new phone restrictions. “I would say they were more genuine connections.”
Across the metro, at Maple Grove High School, it’s much stricter. Principal Patrick Smith said that before his cell phone policy was implemented, kids would leave class to make TikToks and send text messages to start fights in the hallway.
“We see the phone and we pick it up,” Smith said. “When I first launched it, I said leave your phones at home.”
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But Smith ran into opposition from parents.
“Their biggest concern was that we live in a very different time now,” Smith said. “As a parent, I too have two teenage children. You want to know that they are safe at all times. And if there is ever a major emergency, parents want to communicate with their children and they want to know that you are safe.”
Smith says they saw an instant change in the overall happiness of students and staff. Teachers no longer had to argue with students to put away their phones.
“Failure rates have decreased markedly,” Smith said.
“At first, when I was a teacher, it was a little irritating,” Khulia Pringle of the National Parents Union said of students’ phone use at school. Pringle says school districts should talk to students when crafting their phone policy. (Fox News/Mills Hayes)
Some schools across the country require students to keep their phones in a bag. National Parents Union Minnesota State Director Khulia Pringle says she doesn’t think that’s the answer.
“I would organize myself to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Pringle said.
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Pringle represents thousands of parents in the state of Minnesota. She says parents are more concerned about kids using their phones on social media or to record fights. While parents want schools to limit phone use, they don’t want them to get rid of it completely for safety reasons.
“God rest the souls of those who were involved in mass shootings. But many of those kids were able to call them and let them know if they were okay or not,” Pringle said.
She says cell phone policies are important, but she is more concerned about student literacy, disciplinary issues and racial incident protocols.
In Minnesota, school districts have until March 2025 to develop a phone policy.
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“Leaders are really waiting to know who is doing what,” said Myers of LiveMore ScreenLess.
The National Education Association says they recently surveyed all of their members about cell phones and social media, and will release their recommendations for schools in July.
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