Photo: Lydia Schweickart for NPR.
Madelyn Whitt (left) and Quani’e Lanier read in the school library at the Academy @ Shawnee, a magnet middle and high school in Louisville, Kentucky. Does that mean Kentucky’s phone ban is working?
I have my own gripe about cellphones in education — namely, that English language learners often let their phone’s translation app do all the work of writing — but in Kentucky, whole phones are considered enough of a problem to deserve a ban.
Sequoia Carrillo at National Public Radio (NPR) decided to investigate how well the ban was working.
“How do you get teenagers to put their phones away for hours at a time? That is the question many schools are trying to solve as bans on cellphones sweep the U.S. — more than 30 states so far now restrict their use during the school day.
“One of those states is Kentucky, where all public school classes must now be cellphone free. … To see how the policy is working, NPR visited the Academy @ Shawnee, a magnet middle and high school in Louisville.
“Before the restrictions, ‘we didn’t even know the majority of the kids were learning, because they weren’t responding [in class],’ says Hollie Smith, now in her second year as the school’s executive principal. ‘They were just doing things on their phones. … Kids know the expectations now.’
“For one thing, there’s more discourse, she says. Teachers and students feel like they are connecting. Even the cafeteria is a little bit louder — alive with conversations between students disconnected from their screens.
“Even though she finds the initial results positive and encouraging, Smith is under no illusion about what the students think: ‘I think they absolutely hate it. Their phone is their lives — it’s their world.’ …
“The big question, though, here and at thousands of schools around the country, is: Are these bans working? …
“Jefferson County’s ban echoes those in many schools, and it reflects what research points to as the best approach to restricting cellphones in schools. ‘At the end of the day,’ Smith says, ‘we have to do our kids a service. And … they have to be engaged to get the service that we’re providing.’ …
“When the ban went into effect in August, each student received a pouch with their name on it. Immediately, says [Jayden O’Neil, a senior at Shawnee], students began finding hacks to get around the system. ‘Most kids either brought a spare phone or they said they didn’t have a phone,’ she explained.’Or they broke the pouches — they cut them open.’
” ‘People had multiple extra phones,’ added Quani’e Lanier, a fellow senior. Some students brought old phones in to distribute to their friends — decoy phones, Lanier says, to put in the pouches.
“Both students are less than a semester away from graduation and looking forward to moving on. … Both say one of the big problems with the ban is that they feel like adults and should be in charge of their own possessions.
“The new policy has rules and lays out consequences for not following it, including surrendering your phone and a call to parents. But Lanier says those consequences are ‘not enough for people to care.’ …
“As we spoke with students in the library, the bell rang and students began to move between classes. Through the library windows, we could see kids walking and chatting, but a few had headphones on and one had a phone out, taking a selfie video.
“But [Joseph Jolly, a junior and a student aide in the library] said we probably would not see the same behavior in the classroom: ‘They’ve started to actually focus on work, and I think we’ve become more productive because of that.’ …
“The actual policy set forth by the school — that phones must be in their pouches — is widely disregarded, [Joseph Jolly, a junior and a student aide in the library] said. … But he adds that the new restrictions have led to an unspoken agreement: That by mutual consent, students are refraining from using their phones in class and educators are leaving well enough alone.
“Where was his phone? ‘Truth be told, it’s in my pocket right now,’ he said. ‘But … I’m not doing anything though. That’s the thing!’
“Anton Caldwell, Shawnee’s librarian for more than 20 years, says he knew right away the ban was working. The number of students visiting the library increased, and so did the number of books they’re reading. …
“While the ban may not be the sweeping, cold-turkey approach to technology that the district expected, he says it is pushing students to unplug. And there are some books he just cannot keep on the shelf.”
More at NPR, here.
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