School districts move to limit cellphone distractions, but some parents object

Idaho school districts are implementing new restrictions on cellphones in classrooms, as educators say communication devices are increasingly causing distractions from learning.

But some parents are pushing back on restrictive policies over fears that they won’t be able to reach their children during an emergency. That’s particularly true in Emmett, where the school district faced a bomb threat last year.

Emmett’s school board is mulling two potential policy changes: One would bar students from using phones at all during the school day, while the other would only require students to lock up their phones before class.

Trustees had mixed reactions to the proposals during last week’s school board meeting.

Trustee Terry Jones suggested neither policy went far enough.

“I’d like to see another entry that says we completely ban cellphones from the schools, and I’d like to see what the reaction is,” said Jones, pointing to research that shows most teachers view communication devices as a distraction.

On the other hand, school board vice chairman Adam Buck echoed parents’ concerns around taking away phones in case of emergencies. “As a parent, I want to know my kids are OK,” Buck said. “If something like that happens and I can’t communicate with them for three hours, or whatever it is, that’s a stressful situation.”

Unlike Florida, which recently barred cellphones from classrooms, Idaho doesn’t have a state law restricting devices in educational settings. That means districts — and even individual schools, where there’s no districtwide policy — deal with cellphones in a medley of ways.

Emmett’s proposals are modeled after policies in the West Ada, Middleton and Twin Falls school districts.

Why restrict devices at school?

Twin Falls is implementing its new cellphone policy this school year, which starts next month.

The new rule prohibits the use of electronic communication devices during the school day. Those include cellphones, smartwatches, earbuds, headphones and similar items. The ban applies to all students in elementary through high school, except high school students can use their devices during lunch periods.

Devices that are visible or make a notification during the school day will be confiscated. On the first offense, the student can retrieve their device at the end of the day. For subsequent offenses, the student’s parent or guardian must retrieve the device.

The new policy was motivated by broader efforts to improve student achievement by limiting classroom distractions, said Twin Falls public relations director Eva Craner, who chairs the committee that created the policy.

Research shows that removing cellphones from classrooms leads to higher levels of comprehension and mindfulness along with lower levels of anxiety. A Pew Research Center survey, released last month, showed that 72% of high school teachers believe cellphone distractions are a “major problem” in their classrooms.

Twin Falls administrators, teachers and parents crafted their policy over about six months. (Students were also invited to participate in discussions but none did, Craner said.) Much of the conversation centered on when and where it was necessary to restrict devices.

The final rule approved by the school board curtailed devices in classrooms as well as school hallways during passing periods, which was meant to benefit not only academics but also students’ overall well-being, Craner said.

“We wanted students to have those authentic interactions with each other,” she said, “rather than being pulled into a cellphone where there’s cyberbullying that we can’t address, where there’s all these other things that they can’t escape from.”

The Twin Falls policy is almost identical to a cellphone prohibition in the Blaine County School District, which has been in place for a full school year.

Blaine County Superintendent Jim Foudy said district leaders estimated that 10% of phones would be confiscated in the first week under the new policy. But it was closer to 1% or 2%, Foudy said, and the majority of feedback to the rule has been positive — even from some students.

“This is the best policy change I’ve seen in my career,” Foudy said. “It’s a game-changer.”

Parents worry about lack of access to kids

Blaine County and Twin Falls policies directly address the primary concern about cellphone restrictions raised by parents: If you need to contact your child during school hours, go through the school office, the policies say.

“You can always get a hold of your student through the office,” Foudy said. “Within a couple minutes, we can get a hold of a kid if we need to.”

But some parents want a more direct channel. Emmett solicited feedback from parents on its two potential policies, and many survey respondents objected to the proposal banning phones during school.

Some said phones are useful for everyday reasons, like coordinating after-school activities and transportation. Others want children to have phones on-hand for emergencies.

In December, Emmett was one of a handful of school districts targeted by a hoax bomb threat. Parents said cellphone location abilities were useful as schools were evacuated. “I was able to walk directly up to my daughter by following her phone’s tracker,” one parent said in the survey comments.

Another parent said they valued being able to directly contact their child during the bomb scare. “For security reasons, I think cellphones should be on-person, but silenced and out of sight.”

One parent threatened to pull their kids out of school if the district restricts cellphones. “My children not only are able to get a hold of me for emergencies but for injustices and for personal needs.”

The survey showed some consensus among parents: Emmett should do something to limit phones at school, but the less restrictive policy is preferred. Nearly 64% of parents said classrooms should have a designated area where phones are deposited before lessons, as opposed to barring devices all school day.

The more popular policy strikes a balance between eliminating classroom distractions and maintaining access between class periods, one parent said. “It does open the door for useless texting/browsing between classes, but the kids need to learn how to manage that to some extent as well. Just make sure to enforce the tardy policy.”

The Emmett school board will continue to consider the policy proposals in the coming weeks, and trustees could decide to approve one or combine elements of both.

Either policy would still allow students to access their phones if necessary, Emmett Superintendent Craig Woods told trustees last week. Even under a ban on phones, students could keep them powered off in their backpacks or lockers.