A suburban high school has instituted a policy where students are required to stow their cell phones while they are in classrooms this fall, part of a larger discussion about how technology impacts the learning process and socialization within schools.
“We are struggling with the negative impact of cell phones within the instructional environment,” Taya Kinzie, principal of Evanston Township High School, said.
ETHS officials, in coordination with staff, parents and students, have decided to render classrooms “cell phone free spaces” during the coming year.
During the school day, students will be required to store their cell phones away from their desks and in specifically designed locations while they are in classrooms.
“They remain in there throughout the block,” Kinzie said. “At the end of the block, they retrieve their cell phone, and we have 10-minute passing periods, so they can engage with their parents.”
Some parents and students have brought up safety concerns of being away from phones, including active shooter situations and other incidents, but school officials argue that having a phone in those scenarios can also be a dangerous thing.
“The expectation is not that you get on your phone. It’s even a safety issue, you don’t want the phone lighting up a room or making sounds,” Kinzie said.
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School administrators said that enhanced training has been offered to students and faculty to cope with any emergency situation where phones may be stored away from teens at the school, and say that the training should help keep them safe.
As researchers continue to raise alarm bells about constant access to communication devices, schools across the country are considering other options. Viriginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order ordering cell-free education, while Florida and Indiana have also banned cell phones in classrooms.
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California is considering similar legislation, and though Illinois has not yet taken up such a measure, Kinzie said that summer school programs are already yielding promising results now that cell phones are being stored away from students.
“One of our teachers even said…’I haven’t seen kids engage with each other like this for eight or nine years,’” she said.
