As Kenai Peninsula school board members mull the best way to restrict student cellphone use, three schools offered reflections on the policies they’ve already implemented. Principals and teachers say strict limits have created positive results.
The first year Shonia Werner started working as an administrator in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, it was as assistant principal at Skyview Middle School in Soldotna. Coming from a smaller school, she says Skyview opened her eyes to how pervasive student cellphone use was.
“I saw students in classrooms making videos,” she said. “I saw students texting their friends during class, and I saw teachers who were very frustrated trying to teach. We knew we needed to make a change.”
Now, Werner is the school’s principal. After taking the helm, she surveyed teachers on cellphones. She says there was unanimous support for restricting phone use in classrooms. So, they did. Students were only allowed to use their phones at lunch. Werner says student behavior improved. But there were still problems, particularly with students sharing inappropriate pictures during lunch.
“We kind of put our students on restriction, meaning that for a week they couldn't use cellphones at lunch,” she said. “And then it happened again. So it was the entire month we couldn't use cellphones. That was when we really noticed the big difference, like that we could see that this made an impact.”
This school year, they made the no-phone policy permanent. Students have to keep their cellphones in their lockers during the school day.
Werner was one of three principals to share her observations on stricter cellphone policies during a school board work session Monday. Along with staff and students from Nikiski Middle/High School and Homer High School, she says the restrictions have been a positive change for her school.
Proponents of total cell phone bans say they distract from classroom learning and foster social isolation. But others say they can be valuable educational, safety and communication tools.
Joel Burns teaches at Skyview. He says he’s seen a lot of changes since the school banned phones. For one, he says he no longer uses classroom time to police student phone use.
“It had gotten to the point where it was really whack-a-mole in the classroom,” he said. “I generally have pretty good classroom management, but it still was a headache.”
And he says students don’t seem super bothered by the change.
“I don't hear complaining,” he said.” What I do notice in the lunchroom is a lot more kids socializing, instead of going to a table and putting their face in a phone for 30 minutes and not interacting.”
Both Werner and Burns said they don’t support the district acquiring Yondr bags as part of cellphone regulations. The bags allow students to keep their phones with them during the school day, but require a special magnet to open and close, such as in the case of an emergency. Werner and Burns say teachers shouldn’t have to make that call. Here’s Burns again.
“I don't want to have to decide if it's an emergency or not,” he said. “ … It seems like a logistical nightmare and an added expense.”
Skyview eighth grader Steven Debardelaben says students are better off without cellphones. But he acknowledged that other students may feel differently.
“There’s many mixed opinions,” he said. “If you pick the right group, they'll agree that phones should not be used, or it's better without them. But some groups would rather have them, for bad reasons or good reasons.”
Like at Skyview, Nikiski Middle/High School Principal Michael Crain says the school’s new cellphone policy, effective this year, started with a survey of school employees. Those teachers similarly said cellphones are a distraction in class and that something needed to be done.
The school’s site council, district administrators and a student leadership group vetted the policy. Crain says students appreciated being included in the conversation.
“They said, ‘If you would have told us the first day of school, we probably would have revolted,’” he said. “But since we gave them more warning the year before that that was going to happen, they were like, it really wasn't that bad, and they're having more face-to-face discussions throughout the day and at lunchtime.”
The school has different policies for its middle and high school students. Middle schoolers have to keep their phones in their lockers for the whole school day. High schoolers can use their phones during lunch and passing periods. Crain says the school is preparing students for life after high school. Part of that preparation is teaching students when it is or isn’t appropriate to use phones.
As at Skyview, Crain reported improved student behavior after the new policy was implemented. This year, he says they’re down roughly 100 discipline entries compared to the same time last school year.
Shania Weathers is a senior at Nikiski Middle/High. She told board members students should be allowed to use cellphones in school. But she also supports strict limitations on when and how they’re used.
“They are not just communication devices,” she said. “They are essential tools for learning, planning, productivity in the work environment, and for safety at school. That said, I fully agree with the argument that it is easy for students to misuse their phones. The goal should not be banning phones, but finding a balance.”
During the board’s regular meeting later that evening, multiple members said the testimonials from school staff and students were helpful.
“There was so much good cellphone talk today, a lot of good things and good data that is really, really showing of the policy that needs to be tightened up and unified in our district,” said Kenai representative Sarah Douthit. “So I'm really excited to see where that goes.”
Virginia Morgan, who represents the eastern Kenai Peninsula, says it’s important that the board continue prioritizing student input as it crafts any new policy.
“I think we need to be careful as we go forward with any kind of policy that we aren't just legislating how kids should be using phones, but we are working more to support them in their concerns about their phone use and their concerns about how to integrate it into their lives and how to keep it out of the areas like classrooms or studies,” she said.
The board hasn’t drafted any policy revisions yet. But moving forward, members say input from school staff, students and parents will be important.
Monday’s board work session will be available to stream on the district’s BoardDocs website. Meeting materials and the district’s existing cellphone policy can also be found there.
