It's a drastically different picture from years past when high schoolers hunched over their cellphones, scrolling TikTok or texting friends.
"I'm in the hallways every day here and there, and kids are talking to each other," Superintendent Joe Maluchnik said. "They're not hanging out on their cellphones. When I go down into the cafeteria, kids are talking. They're not just sitting there on their cellphones or their iPads or their computers."
Last school year, Woodland Hills extended its cellphone policy to the high school, meaning students must hand their phones over to staff each morning when they walk through the doors. Students pick up their phones during their last class.
Woodland Hills is one of several Western Pennsylvania schools — including at Clairton in Allegheny County and Monessen in Westmoreland — that have reported lower rates of cyber bullying, fewer fights and improved scores on standardized tests.
"It's completely changed the environment," Monessen Superintendent Robert Motte said.
Across the region, districts implemented phone-related policies and procedures in recent years, including several Pittsburgh Public high schools, McKeesport and Penn Hills in Allegheny County; along with Washington and Ringgold school districts in Washington County. Some Allegheny County lawmakers are seeking a statewide ban on student cellphone use in schools.
The local efforts mirror a national movement as educators weigh new research showing the benefits and short-term challenges of keeping cellphones out of classrooms.
Benefits were largely established in an October report by RAND, a California-based nonpartisan research organization. In it, 70 percent of principals surveyed said bans had an overall positive impact on school climate; 67 percent said bans reduced inappropriate cellphone use; and 54 percent said it reduced cyber bullying. A smaller number cited challenges around parent concerns.
Another October report from the University of Rochester and RAND that focused on a cellphone ban at a Florida school found that enforcement of bans often led to a "significant" increase in student suspensions in the short-term, especially among Black students.
But disciplinary actions began to dissipate after the first year, Umut Ozek, a senior economist at RAND and co-author of the report, said. The challenge, he said, "is to minimize these short-term adverse events until a new status quo without cellphones is established in schools."
But the report also found several benefits to the bans such as improved test scores and a reduction in student unexcused absences.
"There's reason to expect that these benefits could actually be larger in the longer run because ... it takes some time for these effects of bans on measures like school climate or student engagement to take effect," Mr. Ozek said.
LOCAL TACTICS
At Clairton, a district of 830 kids, students slip their phones in envelopes each morning. The envelopes, which have the students' name written on them, are distributed to homerooms for pick up at the end of the day.
Despite some student complaints, the process has reshaped the school day.
The district has seen fewer altercations between students, and if there is an incident students no longer record it or text about it later. Teens are also now unable to record TikTok videos in the hallways or spend time texting, which would make them late to class, Superintendent Tamara Allen-Thomas said.
And "lunch is beautiful," Ms. Allen-Thomas said. Clairton partnered with Pittsburgh Area Community Schools, a nonprofit that works to ensure an equitable education experience for all students, which helps create lunchtime activities such as bingo. School leaders also provide students with other activities during lunch such as video games and table tennis, Ms. Allen-Thomas said.
At the Monessen City School District in Westmoreland County, phones are locked in magnetic pouches known as Yondr. The district of 660 students began phasing in the policy to sixth through 12th graders at the end of the 2023 school year.
So far, fights from last school year have dropped by 80 percent. Kids are more social during lunch and, at times, even finish their lunches because they're not distracted by a device.
"It's really been a huge success," middle and high school principal Jason Minniti said.
While there have been a few challenges — sometimes students put a fake cellphone in the pouch while sneaking in their real phone — kids have "really adapted," Mr. Minniti said.
At Woodland Hills, the cellphone policy largely stemmed from Berchman Grinage Jr., the high school's ninth and 10th grade principal. When Mr. Grinage first assumed his position, phone policies were decided by classroom teachers. But that led to "a lot more struggles between teachers and students" when trying to implement those policies, he said.
Now, students hand over their phones when they arrive at school in the morning and collect them during their final classes each day.
Since the change, Mr. Grinage said he's seen growth on local assessment scores the district uses to measure benchmarks.
STUDENT REACTIONS
For students, the cellphone ban hasn't been easy.
Olivia Davidson, a 17-year-old senior, said when the policy was introduced, she took it personally "because I didn't do anything. I'm never on my phone, I pay attention in all my classes." Olivia misses having her phone during the day. And she believes that students would learn control by having their phones with them.
Other students, such as 16-year-old JJ Boone, a junior, have struggled with the policy. JJ frequently sneaks his phone into school, he said, and, because of that, often has to sit through detention.
Other students have also snuck phones in through carved out books and in a Cheez-It box.
The issue, JJ said, is that he uses music to concentrate. Now, JJ finds himself spending more time on his phone while at home.
But some students, including 18-year-old Sabrina Bender, have changed their minds about the policy. Ms. Bender, a senior, was apprehensive at first because she would often use her phone to help with social anxiety. But because of that, Ms. Bender is able to access her phone through the school social worker if she needs it during the day.
Accommodations are made for students with 504 and individualized education plans as well as for students in athletics. If students are going on a field trip phones are put into a separate bin so they can be picked up before the trip.
Now, Ms. Bender said the policy isn't "that bad after all."
"This is helping me realize that if I'm bored I still need to pay attention and I still need to be involved because I'm going to miss something," Ms. Bender said. "And I think that'll definitely help me a lot in college."
© 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
