社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Facetime calls. Blaring music. Video games.

鈥淵ou name it, it was happening鈥� during class at DeLaSalle High School, said Breona Ward, director of college and career progressions.

Students鈥� cellphone use got in the way of learning at the Kansas City charter school.

The difference Ward saw in her English classroom was 鈥渘ight and day鈥� after a crackdown on cellphones midway through the 2022-23 school year. With students鈥� phones locked up, she saw fewer power struggles, disruptions and social media-fueled conflicts.

Even students鈥� downtime was different, Ward said. Instead of having their heads bowed, eyes fixed on phones, they talked with one another and played board games.

鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou see kids who normally aren鈥檛 talking to each other, they鈥檙e not in the same friend group, but they are growing bonds, and they鈥檙e actually communicating.鈥�

But 18 months after introducing a stricter cellphone policy, the Kansas City charter school is pondering how to ease up without reverting to the same old problems.

Students are advocating to use their phones in some circumstances, such as outside of class. Executive director Sean Stalling wants to encourage their initiative.

鈥淲hile I might not agree 100% with every change鈥� students have proposed, Stalling said, 鈥淚 will agree 100% that having the policy that鈥檚 co-created with students and school 鈥� will be easier to enforce and easier to implement.”

How the policy worked

DeLaSalle in early 2023.

The school 鈥� which specializes in working with students who were behind on credits or otherwise struggled at other high schools 鈥� urgently needed to get more out of classroom time. After all, they were still catching up from the pandemic.

Some research shows negative impacts on academic performance, mental health and exercise when students use cellphones in school.

Three-quarters of public schools nationally during the 2020-21 school year, but enforcement of those bans is wildly uneven. A of about 200 children ages 11 to 17 found 97% of them used cellphones in school.

Rather than just putting a cellphone ban in writing, DeLaSalle used magnetically sealed pouches made by and marketed for schools, events and workplaces. Students can carry the pouches with them, but they only open with a special unlocking station.

At least, that鈥檚 how it was supposed to work.

Students quickly discovered that the pouches are fallible, Principal Erin Wilmore said.

A Google search brings up advice on breaching the lock, sometimes without tell-tale damage.

Students鈥� attempts to skirt the policy have required the school to devote time to enforcement rather than relying on Yondr alone, Wilmore said.

As part of the morning routine, students go through bag checks and Wilmore or a vice principal examines every Yondr pouch. When they find a damaged pouch, they toss it.

In class, teachers who catch students using phones call administrators.

Students who violate the policy can have their phones confiscated during school, sometimes for days or weeks. Other than those consequences, the policy isn鈥檛 meant to be punitive.

鈥淲e do not want to suspend kids, restrict them and do things to them that could lead to them not being in school,鈥� Stalling said.

Students also got around the policy by bringing tablets 鈥� too big to fit in Yondr pouches 鈥� or Apple watches, Ward said. But in general, those devices have been less disruptive than phones. For example, it鈥檚 easier to see at a glance how a student is using a tablet.

Reactions and impact

Stalling said the policy left more time for teaching.

Students beat the scores of their Kansas City Public Schools neighborhood high school peers, on average, when they took their 2023 state English exams. DeLaSalle records also show they narrowed the gap on math scores. Final scores for 2024 aren鈥檛 available yet.

Stalling said it鈥檚 notable because many DeLaSalle students previously struggled in those neighborhood schools. It鈥檚 not clear how much of the improvement is a result of the cellphone policy.

Teachers generally supported launching the cellphone policy, Stalling said, with the exception of one who already had a policy that was working well.

Wilmore, the principal, said teachers generally appreciate the clarity and the attempt to reclaim instruction time. But they also say enforcement 鈥� hailing an administrator when a kid gets busted for using a phone 鈥� can pose its own distraction.

About 95% of parents also support the policy, Stalling said. Some even help enforce it.

鈥淲e have had parents call us to say, 鈥楬ey, my son just called me from the bathroom, and I know he鈥檚 not supposed to have his phone,鈥欌�� he said.

Some parents say they worry about safety and how they鈥檇 reach their child during a shooting or some other crisis, Ward said.

The school made exceptions for special circumstances such as students using phones to monitor medical conditions, expecting an important phone call from court or going through a family tragedy.

Students who go off campus for internships or college classes are generally allowed to keep their phones with them for safety reasons, Ward said.

She thinks phones pose their own risks. Social media drama 鈥渟pills over into real life here in the building,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ehavioral incidents have (gone) down significantly because they have less access to their phones.鈥�

Phone restrictions also prevent real-life teasing or conflict from being recorded, going viral and becoming a schoolwide incident, Stalling said.

Students, generally, aren鈥檛 so hot on the policy.

Administrators and students are negotiating potential changes, Stalling said. DeLaSalle will still keep phones out of class but could retire Yondr pouches 鈥� unless a student breaks the rules.

鈥淚nstructional time will still be sacred,鈥� Stalling said. But 鈥渟tudents have lunch, students have passing periods, students have out-of-the-building programs. And so there are times that the students would like to have access to their phone.鈥�

Ideas about tweaking the policy are worth listening to, Wilmore said. But she also likes what the strict version of the cellphone ban has done.

Students now understand, she said, 鈥渢hat we鈥檙e not going to let phones take away from the culture of learning. 鈥� It showed them an extremity. Now, it鈥檚 putting the ball back in their court if we revise the policy.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.