Support for Cell Phone Ban in NWLSD
Northwest Local School Board
Board President Nicole Taulbee,
Board Vice President Mark Gilbert,
Board Member Jim Detzel,
Board Member Nancy Slattery,
School Board Members:
Advocates for Education Excellence is a grassroots group of citizens who have come together in common concern and desire to advance the success of Northwest Students and our community. It is our understanding the Northwest Local School Board is examining the possibility of adopting a policy to ban cell phone use during academic hours. We are writing to encourage the board to adopt this approach to reducing distractions and improving safety.
Ohio has recently adopted a law banning the use of a cell phone in a motor vehicle without hands free operation. Ohio legislatures noted cell phone usage, even for a brief period, was a dangerous distraction, particularly for younger drivers. The possession and use of a cell phone by a student during hours of instruction is no less a distraction from a student’s mastery of a subject during the few hours each week of classroom instruction. It is unimaginable, before the advent of smart phones, a rational argument could be made for the possession and use of a Walkman, a small portable television or electronic game during classroom hours.
There is pedagogical value related to a cell phone ban during school hours. A student learns to arrange his or her schedule before a school day begins. A cell phone ban instills the discipline of attentiveness to the task of learning without interruption. A ban on cell phone usage during school hours directs the full attention of a student to the subject matter and instruction of the educator.
Reviewing literature discussing the implementation of a cell phone ban, a minority of parents are noted to object to not being able to ‘reach out’ to their children during the school day. They particularly stress their concern for not being in contact with their children in times of emergency. However, during emergency procedures, having students concerned with retrieving their cell phones could have dramatically harmful effects on safety. Under normal conditions, parents can go through the school office to contact their children. A message certainly can be passed with little disruption to the class generally. Accommodations for use of cell phones by a student to facilitate ongoing monitoring of a medical condition such as diabetes can be extended.
Published articles regarding cell phones in schools seem to support the benefits of eliminating phones in classrooms except in special cases where they are part of the course material or learning approach.
- Harvard Gazette, March 2023: Do Cell Phones Belong in Schools?
- Cites a 2022 study by the National Center for Education Statistics which reports 77 percent of U.S. schools had moved to prohibit cellphones for nonacademic purposes.
- Education Week, May 2024: One School Leader Banned Cellphones, the Other Embraced Them. What Worked?
- “Many educators will tell you that cellphones are a source of serious academic, mental health, and behavioral problems for students.”
Any parent who has ‘commented’, with increasing levels of volume, for their child to ‘turn off a television and get studying’ can identify with an educator’s dilemma of conveying a lesson in mathematics, science or English while competing with the latest Tic Toc or Instagram video. A ban on cell phone use during instructional hours is common sense and in the best interest of Northwest students.
Thank you for your consideration of our members concerns.
Sincerely,
Advocates for Education Excellence
Contact:
George Brunemann,
7237 Austin Woods Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45247