Portrait of a Typical Cell Phone Policy-Postscript
Facepalm. Facepalm. Facepalm. Facepalm. Headdesk.
My wife and I went out to dinner the other night. We went to a local chain place. Along with the food, I like the atmosphere and the music they play. Like everywhere, they have many television screens (business-class internet doesn’t come without conditions), which are always muted.
As we ate our dinners, though, I realized I was hearing what sounded like a television show, but it was tinnier and not coming from our nearest TV. I looked around and finally took a walk to get more to drink.
The noise was two booths down—two middle-aged adults, each watching videos on their phones, volume up. I couldn’t tell if it was the same video in different places or different videos. They were on opposite sides of the booth and were just…watching. No reaction or engagement, just watching. I think they ate now and then, but I didn’t stick around.
A “Revised” Policy
I’m a sucker for a story, and right now, my district’s cell phone policy story is 100% The Empire Strikes Back, as a plucky band of troublemakers gets victory snatched away from their grip again and again.
I kid. We’re not even near victory.
Hey—at least no one is telling anyone else they’re their long-lost father or anything like that, so we’ve got that going for us.
Last time, I looked at the district’s revisions to the cell phone policy. They were…well, they were what they were. Students could use their cell phones between classes and at lunch; there were six levels of offenses, virtually all involving teachers playing police and enforcers.
The revised policy was slated to be voted on at the June 25th meeting, the last meeting of the school year, when the table is wiped clean of the previous year’s business.
Again, though I’m sure I’ll have my naysayers, I’m not going after my district specifically. Mine is an average district in a below-average state with respect to public education. As I said in the last installment, this policy is boilerplate stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is swapped back and forth with other districts and states like a Pokemon card.
I’m looking at this as a generic policy that could be (and probably will be, in one form or another) adopted by any school, anywhere.
Okay, I won’t delay any longer. Here’s the full policy. It’s zzzzz, so coffee up, and let’s go. Again, this is a standard cell phone policy for a district. There is nothing really special to see here that makes it unique—no insights, no vision. Generic.
Policy Code: 1111 Use of Cell Phones and Wireless Communication Devices
June 2024
I. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education recognizes that cell phones and other wireless devices have become an important tool through which parents communicate with their children and by which students may access a variety of resources. Studies have shown that inappropriate, extended use and access by youth of social media by cell phones has been linked to increased mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, poor sleep, body and image disorders, and disruptive behaviors1. Additionally, use of cell phones during the school day leads to many distractions to the learning environment. In order to foster an educational environment that is conducive to learning, it is essential that schools be free from unnecessary disruptions or interferences. Therefore, to minimize disruptions to the educational environment, the Board of Education believes there are very limited reasons for use of cell phones and other wireless communication devices by students during the instructional day.
II. Definitions
1. Wireless communication devices: Wireless communication devices include, but are not limited to, headphones and ear buds, personal music devices, electronic games (outside of classroom instruction), cellular phones (“cell phones”), electronic devices with internet capabilities such as smart watches, and other similar devices.
2. Instructional day: The instructional day is the typical school day for students from the morning bell signifying the start of school until the afternoon bell signifying the end of school. Except for field trips and other school-sponsored extra-class activities, the instructional day does not generally include before and or after school.
3. Disruptions: Disruptions include, but are not limited to, videoing or photographing another person on school property while engaged in private or personal activities (e.g., in the restroom) without permission, using a wireless communication device to circulate messages and/or coordinate a school disruption such as a fight during the instructional day, receiving audible alerts and notifications, and other activities that cause an interruption to learning or to the educational environment.
III. Authorized Use by Students
A. Except as set forth below, students are not permitted to use, display or have visible any wireless communication devices during the instructional day or as otherwise directed by school rules or school personnel. The instructional day is the typical school day for students from the morning bell signifying the start of school until the afternoon bell signifying the end of school. When a wireless communication device is in the possession of a student, it must be powered off and out of sight.
B. High School students can use wireless communication devices only during their specified lunch period, so long as the students’ use of the device does not violate the standards of the Code of Character, Conduct and Support and is not used for one of the purposes outlined in IV.C below. Elementary School and Middle School students are not permitted to use, display, or have visible, any wireless communication devices during the instructional day.
C. Wireless communication devices are not permitted to be visible or in use during classes or other instructional times. Administrators may authorize individual students to use wireless communication devices for personal purposes during the instructional day when there is a reasonable and legitimate need for such communication (e.g., health or medical necessity, assistive technology, etc.). Teachers and administrators may authorize individual students to use the devices for instructional purposes provided that they supervise the students during such use, and it is tied to a legitimate educational function as determined by the teacher.
D. Although use generally is permitted before and after school, use of wireless communication devices may be prohibited on school buses when noise from such devices or a student’s use of such devices interferes with the safe operation of the buses.
IV. Consequences for Unauthorized Use by Students
A. Disciplinary consequences for unauthorized use of wireless communication devices shall be governed by and consistent with Board Policy 5131 Code of Character, Conduct and Support, and Administrative Regulation 5131 Code of Student Conduct. The Superintendent or designee shall list in the Code of Character, Conduct and Support the specific range of consequences that may be imposed on a student for violations of the Code and of this policy.
B. If a student is found using, displaying or having visible a wireless communication device during the instructional day or at other times where use is unauthorized, the following shall apply:
1. 1st offense: Warning/redirection given to the student. Parent is contacted.
2. 2nd offense: Student conference and parent contact by the teacher.
3. 3rd offense: Office referral and parent is contacted; teacher/school administration confiscates the device and the parent must pick up the device at the end of the school day (Level 2).
C. The following factors should be considered when determining appropriate consequences for the unauthorized use of a wireless communication device: whether the wireless communication device was used (1) to reproduce images of tests, obtain unauthorized access to school information, or assist students in any aspect of their instructional program in a manner that violates any Board policy, administrative regulation, or school rule; (2) to bully or harass other students; (3) to incite or provoke violent acts or assaults on other students or school personnel; (4) to take or send obscene, pornographic, lewd, indecent, or otherwise sexually explicit text messages, photographs or videos (i.e., sexting); or (5) in any other manner that would make more severe disciplinary consequences appropriate.
D. Unauthorized use of wireless communication devices will result in confiscation of the device by a school administrator. Absent compelling and unusual circumstances, confiscated wireless devices will be returned only to the student’s parent or legal guardian. Additionally, if a student engages in any of the behaviors outlined in Section VI.C above, the student may be prohibited from having the wireless communication device on school property or a school-sponsored activity for the remainder of the school year.
V. Liability
Students are personally and solely responsible for the security of their wireless communication devices. The Board of Education and school system are not responsible for the theft, loss or damage of a cellular phone or other wireless communication device.
VI. Speech and Student Expression
Nothing herein is intended to limit a student’s right to express his or her thoughts and opinions at reasonable times and places, consistent with the protections of the First Amendment. In general, schools may place restrictions on a student’s right to free speech when the speech is obscene, abusive, promoting illegal drug use, or is reasonably expected to cause a substantial disruption to the school day. If a student believes his or her constitutional rights have been violated, he or she may file a grievance in accordance with Board Policy 5145, Student and Parent Grievance Procedure.
Adopted: June 2024
So…
English teachers…I know. It’s policyspeak, though.
Last-minute revisions to the revisions before the policy adoption did a couple of things:
Took out high school students’ option to use cell phones between classes
Removed three whole levels of offenses. Offenses #4-#6 were stripped for parts and those were put into #1-#3:
Parents are contacted on the first offense after a Stern Talking To is delivered to the student.
A “student conference” (with who?) and parents are contacted at the second offense and
The phone is confiscated on the 3rd offense for a parent to pick up, and there’s an office referral.
And that’s it.
Oh, and it should be noted—I forgot to mention it last time—that middle and elementary schoolers cannot have their phones out at all during the instructional day. So there’s that. I can only hope middle and elementary principals get creative with that rule and take that to mean that they can collect them in homeroom or at the start of the day.
High schools, with students and decentralized schedules, and no homerooms—we’re not as lucky. There’s no room for creative expression with this.
On the whole, the policy is…a policy. Remember the last time I asked you to pretend you were a teacher trying to enforce a revised but not yet final policy? That’s part of my mission with “Teacher, Teacher”—I want everyone to feel what it’s like to be a teacher today.
Okay, I won’t walk you through that torture again with this, but it is pretty clear to see, yeah?
Again, hundreds of schools will adopt this type of policy this fall when they go back into session, thinking they’ve made a great change to help students.
There’s one small thing, though…
It’s Unenforceable.
Whaaaaa? But it’s a policy!
Okay.
Who are the hallway phone police? The bathroom phone police? The during class bathroom cell phone police2?
Is a kid with their phone out in the hall my responsibility, or do I tail them to their next class and tell that teacher? Is that one offense, or were there more during the day that made my spotting of them on their phone their third offense, and that phone belongs in the office, the kid with an administrator?
High schools are overloaded with students. Halls are crowded. Again, who’s watching for phones out, especially when the halls are four or five across and as many more times deep in teenagers?
And back to the originals from last time—who’s taking the phones? How do offenses accumulate? Who’s keeping track of offenses one, two, and three if they happen in periods 1, 2, and 3?
How much instructional time is it acceptable to lose writing kids up during a class period for phone violations?
Since they have their phones in their possession in the classroom, can’t I, as a teacher, just ask them to sneak them out and use them for Desmos, or Phyphox, since we need those tools in class? It’s cool, yeah? Just don’t tell anyone. There won’t be one teacher that does it.
Where are their phones during classes? Pockets? Bags? Are we just pretending the trove of research about phones causing anxiety by their mere presence, doesn’t exist3?
And teenagers— those bastions of rational thought who aren’t ruled by emotions— will ignore the buzzbuzz of incoming notifications, too. I know, I know—the policy says they have to be powered off.
Does allowing kids to use their phones at lunch4 mean they can use them on their way to lunch, which is technically class-change time? In this scenario, you can have kids in the hall walking to lunch on their phones, and kids just walking to class are not allowed to check that latest buzzbuzz.
These kids who are addicted to their phones are going to stop acting like human teenagers suddenly and do all of this.
I’d pay real money if the adults in a school could do this.
“I’m goan to lunch.” You can hear that too when your inner pretend teacher asks a student to put their cell phone away in the hall, right? Aha! Gotcha! Teachers are done asking kids to put their phones away—it’s a Stern Talking To and a parent contact.
Can a kid whose phone goes to the office 2nd period get it for lunch and bring it back? After all, everyone is allowed to have them at lunch. I think one of the basketful of definitions of equity that we use probably has something to say about that.
With free use at lunch (and in the bathroom and halls if you keep it on the down low), the policy completely ignores the pot-stirring effect of phones (and social media) on teenagers. I’ve seen fights break out near-instantly between students who checked their phones at lunch, only to learn what the other said about them.
Oh, and Snapchat (in its run to become the worst social media platform ever) more and more resembles an anything-goes drug market. If you think your kids on Snapchat don’t know that, you’re wrong. But hey—they can still use their phones at school.
None of this gets into contacting parents—according to many school policies, a positive contact has to be a phone conversation, not an email or a voicemail message. That has to be done after the first time a teacher spots a student on their phone. Even the ones they don’t know out in the hallway.
As a matter of convenience though, many phone offenses might actually be caused by the parent texting the student, so that might make contact easier.
Oh, and if you’re starting to feel all exasperated and think these are just pedantic questions5, and find yourself all, “Keee-rist, Brady, what does it matter? We’ll figure it out as we go…”
Yeah, then why have a policy at all if we and every other school will be making it up as we go?
That’s not equity.
Time Out For a Metaphor…
Look. I know nothing about football. Nothing. I don’t know what the names of the plays are. I don’t know how plays are even run. I'm not even sure how many players can be on the field at a time.
I do know that this is the mascot of the Carolina Panthers, though.
But I’ve been to football games in high school and college, played some pickup games, and watched movies about football. Maybe read an article or two.
But I’m not going to write a list of rules and plays for the Carolina Panthers, take it to summer training, and tell them they have to use it. If I did, I’d expect to be laughed out of the training camp with some nice verbal epithets to spice up my day.
If you’re getting my metaphor, I work in an at-will state, and I’m pretty sure that responding in the completely reasonable manner of the Panthers players and coaches of my metaphor would get me fired6 in my real-world job.
Like many policies teachers are presented with at the start of the school year, this one is another7 that goes on the unenforceable pile. Teachers know it. Put-upon administrators know it, too, as they’ll have to force a smile as they administer the policies of central office and the board— and hope I don’t show up in their session on the cell phone policy at the start of the year.
It’s a lousy situation.
I never said I won’t enforce it. I just said that, as it is written (by people in charge of how schools in this district are run), it’s unenforceable.
I’ll hear the specifics and try, but the Carolina Panthers will not use any of my plays in their 2024 season. I know that for sure.
The Biggest Things?
We were already doing this, and this is more of the same. Remember the stats? 77% of schools have cell phone bans in place. We were one. We had/have rules about cell phones, which look like this.
Phones should have already been away during instructional time and only out during lunch. That’s the rule at every school I’ve been at or visited.
What will this policy actually do, here or at any school with a version of it? I mean, I can sit and watch a roomful of twitchy teenagers who aren’t able to get their phone fix for an entire period and make sure they don’t take it out, and then prowl the halls if that’s what I’m told to do.
But I was hired to teach science. Somewhere along the line, I’m supposed to develop a positive, nurturing relationship with these kids and become seen as someone they can trust.
Policies such as this don’t help with either of those things.
There’s a reason folks like Jon Haidt and groups like the Phone-Free Schools Movement don’t advocate half-measures like this. This is not phone-free. This policy ensures that the schools using it will remain phone-based.
I wouldn’t mind if the policymakers and warmbodies caught the blowback from this policy. But they won’t. Teachers and administrators will, with teachers getting the bulk of it since we have to contact parents. We’ll be on the frontlines, trying to enforce an unenforceable policy that, I guess, was made with good intentions, maybe?
But in the meantime, during this crappy period where this policy stumbles, coughs, and ultimately falls dead, and “OMG! We need a new policy!”, the kids will continue to suffer.
I hate that’s seen as an acceptable tradeoff.
Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”
“Knowing better” is a distant speck in our rearview mirror.
And Lunchtime…
Those adults at the restaurant have to start somewhere, right?
Glad we’ll be giving them training.
This references Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, May 23, 2023, so yay.
Did you know that working in an at-will state means that your employer, as long as they don’t break laws, can have you do like, whatever? Seriously, on the NC Department of Labor site explaining it, there’s this line: It also means that an employer can treat its employees as it sees fit such as demoting an employee, assigning demeaning tasks, revising attendance policies, or changing a work assignment.
Jesus—it says that. Demeaning. That’s subjective as all heck.
All this goes to say is that hi, it’s me. I’m probably the new during-class bathroom cell phone police. I hope not, but I could be, and I’d have no recourse. Ah, North Carolina: worker’s paradise nightmare.
Could I get a list of what research we’re ignoring and what we’re accepting in this nu-age belief system we got going here?
Again, this was a win for those who felt that having no phones at lunch in a cinderblock building with metal detectors, armed guards, locked doors, monitored bathroom breaks, and cameras everywhere would make school feel like jail. We. Can’t. Have. That.
They’re not pedantic—it’s what the late, great Dr. Daniel Kahneman popularized (and created by Dr. Gary Klein) called a premortem. You make a plan, take a beat, and imagine it’s gone wrong. The group now has to explain why it went wrong. It exposes blind spots, exposes groupthink by challenging the illusion of consensus, and calms excessive optimism.
It’s been shown to be better than waiting for the plan to fail, doing a postmortem, and trying to…why am I the one explaining this to a group that should know better? You know what? I can be a con$ultant if anyone’s interested.
I have some ideas on how to get the players to take my plays seriously, but since no one seems to have any ideas about how to do that, I’m keeping them secret. Hint: It does not involve Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey. Jesus.
Yes, there are others. Oh my, yes.