How one school's cell phone ban is going after two years

This story was originally published by YachatsNews.

Sarah Horobin experienced the increasing distraction of students with cell phones in her Taft High School classes over the years.

It was hard to compete with a device that lured away a student’s attention with texts, videos and oftentimes the accompanying drama.

“Kids were on them constantly, and it was a big struggle for teachers,” said Horobin, who has been at Taft High for 11 years.

Then, led by principal Nick Lupo, the school banned all cell phones last year. The 700 middle and high school students at Taft couldn’t bring them into school unless they were put away in special magnetically-locked Yondr pouches.

“I was skeptical at first,” Horobin admits. “I was nervous it would be another policy that wouldn’t be enforced.”

But it was enforced — and took a singular commitment and $20,000 — by Lupo and staff to help change the culture at the school.

And for the second year, staff see a big difference this fall. Students are more focused, more engaged in class or school activities – and talking to each other more between classes and at lunch rather than having their head down and staring into a screen.

“I’m not dealing with as much drama and their social media things,” says Horobin. “I see that they’re actually talking to each other more … and that’s something they’ve had to learn again.”

Taft 7-12 Middle & High School is among the growing number of schools across Oregon and the U.S. – but the first in Lincoln County – to outright ban the devices in its building.

The other Lincoln County School District high and middle schools in Waldport, Newport and Toledo this year are more closely enforcing a 2016 district policy that allows students to keep their phones with them but prohibits their use except for in between classes and lunch. Still, enforcing the policy in those schools first falls to classroom teachers.

More Schools Cracking Down

Now dozens of Oregon high and middle schools are beginning to follow Taft’s lead, including:

• Siuslaw High School in Florence, which banned student cell phones this fall;
• Two high schools and two middle schools in Salem will have students lock them away in January, costing the Salem-Keizer School District $213,000 to buy the Yondr pouches;
• As a trial in the Portland Public School district, three high schools and a middle school are using the locked pouches or a locked box in each classroom; and
• The North Clackamas School District spent $300,000 to provide the Yondr pouches and lock away phones at all of its high and middle schools.

According to a 2022 study by Pew Research Center, 95 percent of teenagers have a smartphone, compared to 73 percent in 2014-2015. A 2024 survey by Pew found 72 percent of high school teachers and 33 percent of middle school teachers say smartphones are a major distraction in class.

But Pew also found that 82 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States say their school or district has a cellphone policy of some kind – but that 30 percent of teachers found those policies very to somewhat difficult to enforce.

Across the country, at least eight states have restricted phone use or taken steps toward doing so. They are following the lead of Florida, which last year banned phones in K-12 classrooms.

At the schools that have restricted phones, many people say they already see benefits. Educators say students now have more conversations at lunch and play games rather than mostly look at their phones.

For much of the smartphone era — which began with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 — Americans treated the rapid spread of digital technology as inevitable and positive. Now those views are mixed.

“Smartphones have brought us a lot of benefits,” Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general told the New York Times recently. “But the harms are also considerable.”

Children’s mental health has deteriorated during the same years that smartphone use has grown. Loneliness has increased, and sleep hours have decreased. In surveys, both teenagers and adults express deep anxiety about their own phone use.

Social scientists continue to debate precise cause and effect, but many policymakers argue that the country can’t wait to act. Murthy agrees. “There’s an urgency to this,” he said. “What we need now is a great recalibration of our relationship with technology.”

Late last month, the Oregon Department of Education weighed in by urging school districts to look at their policies to see if they should be tightened.

“… it is important for schools to work purposefully to create conditions that promote deep thinking and sustained attention, free from the constant interruptions that cellphones and mobile devices can introduce,” ODE director Charlene Williams said in a news release.

Worsens After Pandemic

In Lincoln City, Lupo said he thought about banning cell phones back in 2019 before schools shut down or went online for 1½ years because of the Covid pandemic. His feelings crystalized when middle and high school students returned to in-person classes.

“It 100 percent flipped in their use during Covid,” he said. “It’s no longer just a phone — it’s a computer in your pocket.”

But rather than have teachers individually grapple with the issue in each classroom, Lupo used some of the school’s discretionary funds to buy the Yondr pouches.

“Now it’s a phone-free school,” he said. “It’s in Yondr or in the parking lot.”

While the district policy for other schools says it is OK for students to use their phones between classes or during lunch, Lupo simply says “We have chosen not to do that.”

The result, Lupo and teachers say, is that students are paying more attention to what’s going on in class and with each other.

“That’s what we want – better engagement, fewer referrals and better academic results,” he said.

As for parents’ reaction? Yes, Lupo says, a few were worried about how to contact their student if there was an emergency but most “think it’s logical to have the phone away when they’re supposed to be in class learning.”

If a parent needs to get ahold of their child, they now simply just call the school office. Students, in turn, can also go to the office to make important calls. And everyone has school-issued Chromebooks that can be used for emails.

Improvements Districtwide

While Lupo and Horobin say Taft teachers have welcomed the cell phone ban, teachers at the other high schools say the district’s tighter policy on students keeping them off during class is an improvement – if administrators back them up when there is a problem.

“This year, with the districtwide policy it’s been better,” said Janice Venture, a middle school science teacher in Toledo and co-chair of the teacher’s union.

Venture said while Taft’s teachers are enthusiastic about no more cell phones in school and others have inquired about it, the union hasn’t polled its members on their feelings toward a districtwide ban. She termed it a “back burner issue” at the moment.

If there are issues with a student and their phone in other LCSD schools, Venture says, teachers can now suggest to the student that maybe the school needs to buy Yondr pouches like Taft did.

“Having that little leverage is helpful,” she said. “But if teachers, administrators and parents are all on the same page, it’s much easier.”

Trevor Stewart, the union co-chair and teacher at Newport High School, said he noticed the difference right away this fall. At a first-week pep assembly, he said, “No phones were out. Everyone’s heads were up and paying attention. The energy was just great.”

And that, say Lupo and Horobin at Taft High School, is the point.

“I’m not dealing with as much drama; I’m not hearing as much about their social media things,” said Horobin. “I know it cost some money to start, but it’s been worth every cent.”