More than 70% of high school teachers in the U.S. say cellphones are a major classroom distraction, according to the. At least 14 states have enacted bans or restrictions on cellphones in school, according to . Oregon has no statewide policy, but Gov. Tina Kotek said she鈥檇 like to see one in the future.
Across Oregon, a number of schools have to curb the use of phones in the classroom, ranging from districtwide rules to individual schools enacting their own policies.
Nick Lupo, principal at Taft 7-12 Middle and High School in the Lincoln County School District, began using last year at his school. The bags are pouches which seal securely through the use of a magnet, which is unlocked at designated stations when students are leaving campus. Students have possession of their phone at all times, but will not be able to access their screens until the pouch is unlocked at the end of the school day.
Gabe Pagano, principal of the Cascade Middle School in the Bend-La Pine School District, has been practicing a 鈥溾�� system. At the start of the day, students are required to turn off their phones and leave them in their lockers for the remainder of the day.
The principals spoke to 鈥淭hink Out Loud鈥� host Dave Miller about how cellphone use has changed over the years and why they view them as a distraction to classroom instruction.
The following highlights from their conversation have been edited for length and clarity.
How phone use has changed since the pandemic
Nick Lupo: We saw a good influx after COVID. When we go to the lunch rooms, for middle school, we鈥檇 see a lot of our boys gaming and we鈥檇 see a lot of our girls on social media, looking at image stuff, trying to get likes, those kinds of things 鈥� On the high school side, I鈥檇 walk into classes, we鈥檇 have kids streaming movies and then the second they exit out of the class, we鈥檇 see them go right to their device when they鈥檙e going to the next class. It was like they didn鈥檛 even look up sometimes going down the hallway because their devices were always there. It was sometimes disheartening. You鈥檇 walk to a table of boys or girls and they would not interact with each other. It was their time to stare at their device.
Gabe Pagano: After COVID, it seems like it spiked considerably and we started seeing cellphones really drift into the middle school realm. The conversation was coming. Keeping kids connected when we were in quarantine, I just think part of that, where we found ourselves was a result of putting cellphones in kids鈥� hands to communicate with others, communicate with families and then obviously it trickled into the schools more than what we鈥檇 seen normally.
Students didn鈥檛 like the new policy, but their parents did
Pagano: They didn鈥檛 like it. I mean, obviously, but I think it was a turning point for us when I was presenting at an open house. We probably had 600 families in the gym. We said this is our cellphone policy and we鈥檙e gonna stand by it because we just can鈥檛 have these distractions, and the gym erupted with cheers. We鈥檙e like, 鈥淥K, this was easy. This was a lot easier than we thought.鈥� That told us the parents in the school were on the same expectations for cellphones and then the kids just had to deal with it.
What do you say to parents who have safety concerns about their child being without a phone at school?
Lupo: We have a safety coordinator here in the district. Their sole purpose is to create policies and procedures that the school then practices and gives information to the kids on how to have a lockdown, go on a code if there is an inside threat or an outside threat. So we practice those throughout the year. We鈥檒l make sure that all the things we鈥檙e doing here at the school are for your students鈥� safety and we鈥檙e gonna do our best to establish all of that. That鈥檚 why we have phones in the classroom. That鈥檚 why we train our teachers. That鈥檚 why we train our (administration) and that鈥檚 why we work closely with our police department to have all those things in place.
Governor Tina Kotek indicated she would be open to a statewide cellphone ban in schools. Would you agree to that?
Pagano: Absolutely. I think the benefits we鈥檝e seen are too great. Kids talking to one another during lunchtime, kids working out their own differences, kids having conflict with one another and not the interface being between a device or through social media, working on skills. I couldn鈥檛 agree more.
Lupo: It鈥檚 not a gotcha moment. It is really just teaching the kids that you鈥檙e here. We鈥檙e here to teach you, to make sure you鈥檙e learning. I think that the education piece around it is really the huge section of this that we try to get to as well. Because we want kids to recognize that when they come here, you have access to a one-on-one computer, you have access to teachers and we wanna make sure that you鈥檙e learning here. I support it. It was an experiment a year-and-a half ago (at Taft Middle and High Schools), and I got really good support from a lot of people.
You can listen to the full 鈥淭hink Out Loud鈥� conversation with Pagano and Lupo by clicking the player near the top of the page.