State Superintendent Eric Mackey told board members in December that they couldn’t outright ban cell phones from schools, but he would like to give some additional guidance to districts.
“There are a lot of states talking about cell phones in schools,” Mackey told board members. “And in most cases, it’s all negative.” And the problem goes beyond taking away students’ attention, he said.
“We’ve even had issues where students send threatening messages to other students during the school day,” he said, “and, of course, our local school districts are having to deal with that.”
“It’s a big issue that has been discussed among state boards,” board member Stephanie Bell said. “We really have problems, and they’re discipline problems.”
Mackey said Florida is the only state where lawmakers have restricted cell phone use in schools, prohibiting their use during class time. Some Florida schools have taken it a step further, requiring phones to be stored for the entire school day. The Tampa Bay Times reported teachers, parents and students said one Florida middle school is better without cell phones.
With plenty of research now showing the harmful effects of phone-associated behaviors like cyberbullying and mental health issues, schools across the country are taking steps to restrict access to cell phones during the school day.
Alabama school districts have a hodge-podge of rules about students using cell phones at school. Some prohibit them during the school day, others allow them to be used on breaks and at lunch.
Mackey said Montgomery County schools is the only district to ban cell phone use during the school day district-wide and so far, so good. Students are required to lock their phone into a magnetically-sealed pouch made by Yondr which stays locked until the end of the school day.
Elmore County’s Stanhope Elmore High School started using Yondr pouches in the 2022-23 school year, and Macon County started using them in mid-October.
Montgomery County schools’ communications director Jade Jones shared results of a staff survey measuring the impact of a no cell phone policy through December with AL.com:
- 68% of staff indicated more productivity among students,
- 63% of staff indicated reductions in classroom distractions, and
- 61% of staff indicate increased student engagement.
Seven in 10 staff said the policy should be continued, she added.
Mackey said the board could take some kind of action, while still leaving it up to local school boards to set their own rules for their students.
“We went through a period where teachers worried ‘do we have enough computers’ and they were encouraging you to bring your phone and get it out, do research on your phone and use it for a calculator,” Mackey said. “That seems to have been a curve that we’ve now gone beyond. Part of that is because we’ve been able to buy devices for pretty much all of our students.”
“I do think all of the evidence seems to be that if students don’t have cell phones,” Mackey said, “things are better during the day.”
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