Ken Hackman remembers when the main classroom distraction was students passing notes between themselves and trying not to get caught by the teacher.
“That was a lot easier to manage,” said Hackman, who teaches Zoology 1 and II at Madison Central High School and is in his 42nd year of teaching.
The iPhone, which Apple founder Steve Jobs introduced until 2007, certainly keeps teachers on their toes whether they’re monitoring its misuse by students in class or watching them use it to find information that is deemed helpful in the classroom.
About half of U.S. children get their first cell phone by age 11, and around nine in 10 teenagers have their own cell phone, according to a 2023 report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that focuses on the impacts of technology on young people.
The reality is that electronic devices, cell phones and smart watches in particular, pose a quandary for school systems when it comes to their use by students during the school day.
Should students be allowed to have them in their backpacks but only able to use them after classes are dismissed for the day? Should they keep them in their backpacks and be allowed to use them during breaks, at lunch and other specified times? Should they turn them in during the school day so there’s no way they can be used until after the school day is over? What should the punishment for misuse?
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Unified School District board of education announced a drastic measure: It plans a full-fledged ban on cell phones and social media platforms during the school day in an effort to improve student learning and well-being.
The ban would take effect in January 2025 after details are approved in a future meeting by the Los Angeles Board of Education, with the goal of enforcing it across a student’s entire time at school, including lunch and other breaks.
The New York Times reported this month: “So far this year, at least eight states have passed laws, issued orders or adopted rules to curb phone use among students during school hours.”
Turned off and out of sight is gist of the cell phone policy of many schools in northeast Jackson and Madison County.
At St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Upper School students may bring their phones to school, but they should be turned off and either in their backpack or locker during the school day. That applies to smartwatches as well.
That was a change, which was decided this summer, from the previous policy that allowed Upper School students to use their phones between classes, during break, lunch and other unstructured time or with explicit permission from a member of the faculty.
The change in policy is meant to increase interpersonal engagement among students and faculty, minimize distractions, encourage more deliberate technology use, decrease potential for disciplinary infractions and potentially improve mental and emotional health among students, according to information from St. Andrew’s.
Lower School students at St. Andrew’s are not allowed to bring phones to school and Middle School students must turn their phones off and in to their advisors first thing in the morning. They can retrieve it at the end of the school day at dismissal.
Madison-Ridgeland Academy follows a similar policy to that of St. Andrew’s.
“At MRA, we understand the need for cell phones because of their convenience and the safety they provide our students,” said Greg Self, the high school principal at MRA. “Therefore, cell phones or other electronic devices of communication are to be kept in the off position and out of sight upon arrival to school and until the end of a student’s school day and he or she is outside the building at 3:30 p.m.”
MRA is committed to continually reviewing the latest research, consulting with other school leaders, and recommending necessary changes, he said. “Our goal is to ensure that our policies best support our students’ learning environment and overall well-being.”
At Jackson Academy, students in Middle School are discouraged from bringing cell phones to school, but if they do, they have to keep them turned off and in their backpacks.
“This new policy is best summarized as an ‘off and away policy’ for all students for the entirety of the school day,” said Matt Morgan, academic dean and head of Middle School at JA.
“While students are welcome to leave personal devices at home, students who choose to bring cell phones, Apple watches and other communication devices to campus must keep those devices off and out of sight at all times. This includes break, lunch and study hall classes.”
A break from personal devices during the school day is meant to enhance the academic environment, promote greater interpersonal relationships among peers and reduce on-campus discipline issues related to improper use of technology and social media, he said. The school strives to create a healthy and positive learning environment, while reducing stress and distractions associated with personal devices, he said.
Students are always welcome to use the phone in the Middle School office if they need to speak with their parents during the school day and the Middle School office staff will deliver messages to students from their parents, if necessary, Morgan said.
JA’s policy has included cell phone restrictions at school for the last several years, not allowing students to have phones during class times or assemblies. Neither students nor faculty may use headphones or earbuds in the hallways, classrooms or lunchroom or during assemblies.
JA strengthened its policy during the 2024 summer with input from faculty, administrators and the Student Government Association.
Upper School students at JA must place their devices in a designated area determined by the teacher in each class to avoid distraction. JA Upper School students may not use their cell phones during class, between classes or during assemblies. That applies also to wearable technology such as Apple and other smart watches that students could use to text or otherwise communicate during class or assemblies.
At Jackson Prep, students in Middle School may use cell phones before school starts at 8:15 a.m. but after that they must be turned off and put in their backpacks, where they are to remain until the school day ends, said Crisler Boone, chief external affairs officer at Jackson Prep.
Students in grades 9-12 at Prep may use their cell phones during activity period and lunch period outside all buildings, but their cell phones are to be turned off and put in their backpacks or lockers during class, she said.
Public school districts throughout the state determine their own policies for cell phones and other electronic devices. The Mississippi Department of Education does not have a policy about that, said Jean Gordon, the department’s chief of communication.
The electronic devices policy for the Madison County Schools remains the same for the current academic year as it was last year, said Gene Graham, director of communications for the district.
The policy, which is found on page 41 of the student handbook, states:
- Cell phones, smart watches and other electronic devices that can be used to access the internet and games, text, video, and/or to record are not to be utilized in elementary schools or on buses unless approved by the administration.
- Electronic devices including cell phones and smart watches may be brought and utilized on school campuses at the principal’s discretion as it relates to the instructional process.
- In the classroom, headphones and/or earbuds may only be used with teacher approval.
- The district does not accept responsibility for lost or misplaced electronic devices; and the district will not be held responsible for any fees associated with the use of personal devices.
-Unauthorized use of a cell phone or other electronic device during the school day or on the bus, may subject a student to disciplinary action which may include the following: corporal punishment, detention, in-school detention or out of school suspension
-Possession of cell phones and other electronic equipment is strictly prohibited in any room during testing. Violation of this policy during state mandated testing shall invalidate the student’s test.
- If an electronic device is confiscated for unauthorized use, it will be returned only to the parent or legal guardian.
Like many parents, Marlana Walters, whose son and daughter are ninth graders at Rosa Scott School in Madison, is OK with her children going without the use of their cell phones during the school day.
“I think kids have enough to worry about without the ringing and buzzing of their cell phones,” she said. “They should be focused on their classwork when they’re at school.”
Hackman requires students to put their cell phones in their backpacks and have them silenced.
“If it goes off, you’re busted,” he said. “That happens two or three times a semester. The kid freaks out and has a look on his face like, ‘I’m in trouble.’”
The first offense in his classroom gets a student a warning, Hackman said. The second time it happens, a student must sign and date a form about the offense and the third offense means the phone is taken away and turned into the school office.
A parent or guardian has to retrieve the phone, and a student gets anywhere from one to three days of in-school detention. Another consequence that hits some students hard: Because of three offenses, a student cannot get out of taking the exam for the semester in Hackman’s class.
A teacher who engages students and gets them excited about what they’re learning does not face problems with cell phones, said Hackman, who was named the Outstanding High School Science Teacher in 2023 by the Mississippi Science Teachers Association. “It becomes a non-issue,” he said.
Occasionally, Hackman asks students to use their cell phones and look up scientific information that’s not found in their textbooks. “Science is changing so rapidly that there are things that have been discovered since the textbooks came out,” he said.
Cell phones will not be the last technology that teachers will have to learn how to balance in the classroom, Hackman said. Teachers will have to balance Artificial Intelligence and learn how to use it in the classroom yet not allow students to completely rely on it, he said.
Hackman said he’s not against cell phones and he understands why students and parents value cell phones, especially when family members are ill, or students head to work right from school. “Parents need to be able to get in touch with students,” he said.
Common Sense Media reports teens receive a median of 273 notifications on their phones in a day. The U.S. surgeon general has called for safety warning labels like those on tobacco and alcohol products on social media platforms because he considers them a mental health emergency among young people.
Hackman sometimes wishes students would put down their phones during break or at lunch and use the time to talk to each other.
Walters shares Hackman’s thought about students needing to interact with each other and without their cell phones. “I sometimes just want them to carry on a conversation with each other,” she said.
