According to voices from GAPS, it’s gone off without a hitch.
“I really expected more reaction to the policy than I heard,” school board member Kris McLaughlin said in a message to Mid-Valley Media last week when asked about the restrictions.
For context, Governor Tina Kotek issued an executive order restricting smartphone use in the classroom last summer after Salem lawmakers failed to move their own measure through the legislature.
The order, which called for districts to draft policies prohibiting the use of “personal electronic devices” throughout the school day, was part of a growing nationwide push to keep phones out of students' hands in K-12 schools. Among other expressed aims, Kotek said the order would limit distractions and address mental health concerns.
At GAPS, where middle schools had already moved toward more restrictive measures, the school board approved a districtwide policy shortly after the Governor’s order that bars students from having their phones out during the school day, even during passing periods and lunch. Students must instead have their phones stowed in their lockers, backpacks or pockets.
Still, there are exceptions. Students can use their devices if it's permitted under a medical provider order or an individualized education plan. Families can also request an exemption by filling out a form at their school office.
Under the policy, students who flout the rules have their phones confiscated. If it’s a first-time offense, they can retrieve them from the school office at the end of the day. If there’s a second violation, the student’s parents are contacted. If there’s a third time, the parent has to retrieve the phone.
But over the last year, confiscations did not appear to be a major problem.
Last October, South Albany High School senior and student representative on the school board, Skyler Wan, told officials he had not witnessed any confiscations and thought the policy was going well.
In a phone call this month, school board member Brad Wilson said all the comments he had heard about the policy had been positive. Willson added he thought there could have been the potential for challenges.
“That never manifested,” he said.
In her message, McLaughlin said the policy was well received from the beginning, adding there were positive comments from teachers, parents and students.
“I heard reports that there was increased interaction, conversation and general sociability. And honestly, nobody has had much to say about it since the start of the school,” she said.
Across the country, such policies appear to have shown some impact.
The National Bureau of Economic Research recently published a large-scale study on smartphone bans in the U.S., looking at schools that had students lock their phones in pouches. The study found student phone use decreased, while academic performance saw little change.
But beyond test scores, researchers are also looking to see how such bans affect social-emotional learning.
That kind of learning is really about acquiring life skills, according to Rachel Satter, an assistant professor of practice at the College of Education at Oregon State University and a former elementary school teacher. Among other areas, learning includes improving self-awareness, decision-making and relationship skills.
“These are qualities and competencies that people need to have,” she said in a phone interview.
While individual school districts are likely the best judges of how their respective phone policies are affecting social-emotional learning, Satter said the College of Education's perspective is that fewer screens in the classroom are better.
“Classrooms are about relationships,” Satter said. “It’s at the heart of everything that a teacher does, and those relationships can be strongly developed when there are opportunities to build community.”
“And that work is made more challenging when a student is on a device,” she said.
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