Schools Are Competing With Cell Phones. Here’s How They Think They Can Win

Isabella Pires first noticed what she calls a “gradual pandemic of apathy” in eighth grade. Only a handful of her classmates signed up for the charity projects she helped organize at her Massachusetts school. Even fewer actually showed up.

When Isabella entered highschool last fall, she noticed that the issue was much more serious: a low-activity Spirit Week and classes during which students rarely spoke up.

In some ways, it’s as if students “just care less and less about what people think, but somehow more,” said Isabella, 14. Some teens, she said, not care about being seen as disengaged, while others are so afraid of ridicule that they keep to themselves. She blames social media and the prolonged isolation of the post-COVID era.

Teachers say their tried-and-true lesson plans are not any longer enough to maintain students engaged in an era of mental health struggles, shortened attention spans, decreased attendance and declining academic performance. At the guts of those challenges? Cellphone addiction. Now, adults are attempting recent strategies to reverse the malaise.

Cellphone bans are gaining popularity, but many say they’re not enough. They argue for an alternate type of stimulation: getting students outside or into extracurricular activities to fill time they may otherwise spend alone online. And students need an outlet, they are saying, to speak about taboo subjects without fear of being “shunned” on social media.

“To engage students now, you have to be very, very creative,” said Wilbur Higgins, English major at Dartmouth High School, where Isabella might be a sophomore this fall.

Lock them up

Mobile phone pockets, cabinets and baskets have gotten increasingly popular and can assist implement mobile device bans.

John Nguyen, a chemistry teacher in California, invented the pocket system because he was so annoyed by the bullying and phone fights during classes, often without adult intervention. Many teachers are afraid to confront students who use their phones during class, Nguyen said, and others have given up attempting to stop it.

At Nguyen’s school, students lock their phones in neoprene bags during classes and even throughout the day. A teacher or school principal opens the baggage with a magnetic key.

It doesn’t matter how intense the lesson is, said Nguyen, who teaches at Marina Valley High School and now sells the baggage to other schools. “There’s nothing that can compete with a cell phone.”

Do something (different)

Some schools are also locking up smartwatches and wireless headphones. But the baggage don’t work once the ultimate bell rings.

That’s why in Spokane, Washington, schools are increasing after-school programs to compete with after-hours phone calls.

The Engage IRL — In Real Life initiative, which launches this month, goals to offer every student something to look ahead to after a tough day at college, whether it’s sports, performing arts or clubs.

“Hours of daily isolation at home after school, using a personal device, has become the norm,” said Inspector Adam Swinyard.

Students can form clubs around interests like board games and knitting, or take part in local basketball leagues. Teachers will help students develop a plan for involvement during back-to-school conferences, the district says.

“From 3 to 5:30, you’re in a club, playing sports, taking part in activities,” as a substitute of in your phone, Swinyard said. (The district has a brand new ban on phones during class but will allow them after school.)

In a time of high absenteeism, he also hopes the classes might be the additional push some students have to attend school. In a Gallup poll last November, only 48% of middle and highschool students said they felt motivated to go to high school, and only 52% felt they did something interesting on daily basis. The survey was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which also supports environmental journalism on the AP.

Vivian Mead, a senior from Spokane, said more extracurricular activities help, but they won’t work for everybody. “There are definitely people who just want to be by themselves, listen to their music, do their own thing, or be on their phone, for example,” said Vivian, 17.

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Her 15-year-old sister, Alexandra, said the morning counseling sessions have improved participation within the drama club the sisters are involved in. “It forces everyone, even if they don’t want to get involved, to try something, and maybe it will work,” she said.

Go outside

Thirteen Maine high schools took an analogous approach, inviting students to outdoor classes for 35,000 hours during a particular week in May.

It’s empowering for college kids to attach in nature, away from screens, said Tim Pearson, a physical education and health teacher whose students at Dedham School participated within the statewide “Life Happens Outside” challenge.

Teachers adapted their lessons to happen outside, and students bonded outdoors during lunch and recess. That evening, about half of Dedham’s students camped out, encouraged by the pizza party. Several students told Pearson they camped out again after the challenge.

“Whether they had their phones on them or not, they were building fires, they were pitching tents,” Pearson said. “They were doing things outside that are clearly not on social media or texting.”

An appeal to oldsters

Parents also need to alter the culture of cellphone use of their families, some teachers say. At home, Ohio teacher Aaron Taylor forbids cellphone use when his children have friends over.

And when children are at college, parents mustn’t distract them throughout the day by sending them text messages asking to examine on them, he added.

“Students are so attached to their families,” said Taylor, who teaches at Westerville North High School, near Columbus. “There’s a sense of anxiety about not being able to connect with them, rather than appreciating the freedom of being alone for eight hours or with friends.”

Fight the fear of “cancellation”

Some say other forces behind teen disengagement are only amplified by cell phones. The divisive political climate often makes students reluctant to participate at school when anything they are saying can spread around the college on messaging apps.

Taylor High School English students tell him they don’t talk at school because they don’t need to be “invalidated” — a term used for public figures who’re silenced or ostracized after expressing offensive opinions or speech.

“I said, ‘Well, who’s rejecting you? And why would you be rejected? We’re talking about ‘The Great Gatsby,’ not some controversial political topic,” he said.

Students “become very, very quiet” when themes like sexuality, gender or politics come up in novels, said Higgins, an English teacher in Massachusetts. “Eight years ago, there were shooting hands everywhere. Nobody wants to be labeled a certain way or ridiculed or criticized for politics anymore.”

That’s why Higgins uses web sites like Parlay, which permit students to anonymously have online discussions. These services are expensive, but Higgins believes the commitment to classes is price it.

“I can see who they are when they answer questions and stuff, but other students can’t,” Higgins said. “That can be very, very powerful.”

Concerned concerning the lack of engagement from her peers, Higgins student Isabella wrote an article in the college newspaper.

“It is up to us to ensure that future generations do not find themselves in the same downward cycle,” she wrote.

A comment under the post highlighted the challenge and the stakes involved.

“Generally speaking,” the commenter wrote, “why should we care?”