A ninth-grader places his cellphone in a holder as he enters class at Delta High School in Utah, where there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering class. This school year, classrooms at Seneca Valley School District are phone-free zones for the entire school day. Associated Press

Rick Bowmer

Starting this school year, Seneca Valley School District classrooms, which educate more than 7,600 students, are phone-free zones from the first bell to the last.

The move comes after community discussion — the district’s superintendent, Tracy Vitale, said the school board surveyed parents and staff, met with stakeholder groups and conducted research on cellphone usage in school. The result was a tighter policy on student cellphone use that still allowed them to be used in between regular class time.

That changed this year. Students still are allowed to use their phones on buses, but now they must put them away for the entire school day.

This is not only a method to keep students engaged in their classwork, but to “ensure a productive learning environment while emphasizing use of technology through the teaching of digital citizenship at every grade level.” Teachers are also not supposed to use their phones during work hours this year.

The move to restrict cellphone use in school is a pretty major change, but one that definitely was not made lightly. The fact that teachers are included in the no-use policy speaks volumes about the message the school district is trying to send to its students and helps reinforce the idea of the policy: being engaged in learning.

Not everyone is happy about this — some parents have lobbied complaints with the school board and district administrators. Vitale emphasized that the policy is not a punishment, but a means to improving direct communication between students with their peers and their teachers. She also emphasized the mental health benefits of not being attached to a pocket screen at all times.

The district had considered keeping phones in locked cases, but decided against it for now, meaning administrators are trusting the staff and students to keep one another accountable when it comes to the policy. It will be interesting to hear what students have to say six months from now, when the policy is well ingrained in their school lives compared to the way it is now.

— ET