Education

What parents really think about school cell phone policies

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Many states and school districts around the country have implemented — or are considering — cell phone bans for students during school hours. Smartphones and social media can be a distraction, take away from learning, and lead to increased problems with cyberbullying and the mental health of students.

Parents, caregivers, and teachers have mixed feelings on school cell phone rules, which can range from not allowing phones in classrooms to not allowing phones on campus. Many cite safety concerns and wanting to be able to stay in touch with their kids if any problems arise. The prevalence of school shootings, in particular, makes many families reluctant to give up a direct line of communication with their child.

What are parents and experts saying about phones at school?

We asked our community of parents on Instagram, “Should students be allowed to have their phones during school hours?” Here are just some of the varied responses that show the issues that parents are grappling with today:

  • “Yes with them in their backpacks. 8th grader who stays after school for sports and clubs, it’s not 2001 where you call collect on a pay phone and hope they heard what you said. Or just jump in some random friends car and get a ride home. Things are different. Yes to phone, no to social media for me.”
  • “Phones should be locked up during the school day. If there is an emergency students need to focus on following their teachers’ instructions.”
  • “Can’t you make calls and receive messages on smart watches? That’s an easy way to keep in contact but keep the distractions low.”
  • “My grandson had his in an active school shooting event. Being able to read his text was critical. They should have their phones. The relief we felt being able to communicate with him was incredibly important. We would have gone insane. Police were everywhere, information was so limited.”
  • “Children should have, at a minimum, a smart watch to ensure I, as the parent, can track and get a hold of my child in the event of an emergency. Teachers/principals do not have the bandwidth to call each parent to report their students’ status. Children are being trained to run and hide during lockdown drills, they won’t have enough time to run and grab their devices from their desks, backpack or lockers. It’s a safety concern, I want my child to be able to get a hold of me when he is sick, unsafe or in trouble.”

Some educators and school staff also offered their perspectives on the debate:

  • “I am a classroom teacher (HS) and it drives me nuts that with the limited time we have, a good 1/3 portion of my time is spent on redirecting, reminding and re-reminding to stay on task. One kid pulled out his phone and showing me that his mom was calling him. I told him his mom should not be calling him during school time.…As long as they have it in their hand, pocket, binder, etc. they are 100% distracted.…A solution for this problem – keeping cell phones safe in classes and away from students – will be money well-spent.”
  • “In a backpack only. The school where I work started a policy this year that only allows students to use their phones before & after school and during lunch and it has made a tremendous difference. If students are not following the policy they lose their phone to the office until the end of the day and, as a parent and school staff member, I support that 100%.”

A recent ParentsTogether survey of 1,000 parents revealed that almost half (49 percent) of parents believe that smartphones should be allowed on school grounds, but not allowed to be used during school hours. However, 1 in 5 parents would like to ban phones from school grounds, while another 1 in 5 parents are on board with allowing phone use at school in between classes.

In the survey, the top reasons parents gave for supporting phones at school are:

  • To contact parents for rides and scheduling needs
  • For emergencies, including school shootings
  • For safety in walking or driving to school

And the top three reasons parents gave for being against phones at school are:

  • Phones are a distraction and disrupt learning
  • Phones are addictive or unsafe
  • School is a place kids should be building in-person social skills

School safety expert Kenneth Trump, Ed.D. (“Dr. Ken”) — who is president of National School Safety and Security Services, an Ohio-based consulting firm that works with schools — said that, understandably, giving students phones provides a kind of “emotional security blanket” for parents. However, he said that unregulated cell phone use during an emergency can actually decrease safety at school.

“In a critical incident, if you have 20 kids texting, receiving calls, livestreaming, they are not being able to pay attention to the safety guidance fully or to stay alert,” Dr. Ken told Chalkbeat. Plus, he pointed out, if you have parents driving immediately to school during an emergency after receiving a text from their kids, that could make it harder for emergency workers to arrive at the school and do their job.

Schools are implementing a range of solutions. Some schools are investing in secure places to keep phones during class or during the school day, such as pouches that zip up and lock with a separate magnetic device. But whatever schools choose to do, solutions should consider the needs of the students, educators, and community. The more that parents, students, and staff understand the policies and the reasons behind those policies, the more they’ll be able to follow guidance for optimal learning and safety.

Phone safety for families

The phones-in-schools debate is part of a larger dilemma parents face about online safety and when is the right time to introduce kids to phones and social media. Child development experts including U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy have warned about the health and safety risks of social media and the addictive nature of many apps and features of smartphones.

Unfortunately, many parents feel pressured into getting their child a smartphone, with 1 in 3 parents in our survey reporting that they didn’t feel ready for their child to have a phone when they bought them one.

One possible peace-of-mind solution for families, as some parents’ comments mentioned above, could be an inexpensive smartwatch or flip phone with the ability to call and text important contacts (such as parents), but without constant internet and social media access. Some school phone policies do not mention smartwatches, but if they are a distraction they can always be stored in a backpack just like a phone.

See our comprehensive guide to your child’s first phone for a list of questions to consider before getting your kid a phone, plus alternatives to smartphones (for a less addictive, less distracting way for kids to keep in touch).

If your child already has a phone, be sure to check out our guidelines for how to enforce limits for safe and appropriate phone use.

Joanna Eng is a staff writer and digital content specialist at ParentsTogether. She lives with her wife and two kids in New York, where she loves to hike, try new foods, and check out way too many books from the library.