Liberty County School System bans cell phones during class

The Liberty County School System is introducing a strict new policy this fall: it is banning cell phones for most middle and high school students in the classroom. 

The idea is simple, school officials say: children will be less distracted and more attuned to learning without their personal mobile devices to distract them.

The school system is serious about the drastic shift. The county school board voted unanimously to approve the pouches, made by YONDR, on May 14, and LCSS has already purchased 5,500 bags — at a cost of $140,250. School officials say they aren’t sure, but they think Liberty County may be the first public school system in Georgia to adopt the bags.

Students will be required to use these bags, which are used in concert halls as well as classrooms, to magnetically lock their cell phones while in class. Students then demagnetize the bags by passing then over an unlocking device installed near exits.

However, the bags are not foolproof. YouTube and TikTok videos show how people have hacked the magnetic locks.

Zoom meetings for parents June 18

LCSS will hold two virtual parent meetings about the new policy next week and Superintendent Franklin Perry is encouraging parents to sign up in advance for the Zoom meetings scheduled for Tuesday, June 18 at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Montgomery, Alabama, schools have had “a lot of success” using the lock bags, according to Perry. “They’ve seen achievement go up because, no different from us, I’m monitoring my phone almost all the time, and kids are doing the same thing,” he said. “So they’re not paying attention to the teachers, and so they’re not learning. In addition to that, teachers, some of the stress that they have is because of these cell phones.”

The Current asked for more details about the plan ahead of the two virtual information sessions. LCSS said the policy will “improve overall student engagement, mental health, and well-being.” However, it did not provide the names of people involved in developing the policy, nor did it cite any academic studies supporting the practice.

A mixed bag

The new student cell phone policy has met with mixed reviews, even before implementation.

At the May 14 school board meeting, District 1 School Board Member Lavonia Le Counte questioned how disabled students who use a phone to check their blood glucose level would function. LCSS’s Executive Director of Technology and Media John Ryan said those students would receive cell phone bags that close with Velcro, rather than a magnetic lock.

According to other schools that use the locking bag, the devices last about five years, Ryan said. If a student damages the bag, which costs about $15.50, he added, “as part of our procedures, we have in there how to handle that.”

One student’s thoughts

Tradon Williams, 17, a rising senior at Bradwell Institute, said he thought it was “unnecessary,” but he conceded that he has seen students cheat on exams. 

He’s not too worried about the new rule: “I mean, to other kids, it might feel unnecessary, or teachers are just doing that for whatever, or the district, whatever. But I feel relaxed and calm about it. I really don’t care, because I don’t get on my phone like that. I don’t really use my phone in class at all unless I’m, you know, in my free time.”

Although Williams said it’s not hard for him to leave his phone alone, he added, “Sometimes I get lost, so I ask [the teacher] for help, or I get on my phone or my iPad.”

The new policy sets the same standard for students as LCSS expects of adults who bring cell phones into the classroom. Visitors, including parents, guardians, and invited guests of LCSS are prohibited from using cell phones in classrooms and all phones must be placed in silent mode, according to LCSS policy. 

Employees and parents, as well as students, also have to sign a Code of Conduct each year. That code bans people using LCSS’ Internet and devices from:

• Revealing other people’s personal information (i.e., address, phone number), with specific exceptions cleared through the superintendent or their designee
• Searching or visiting “inappropriate sites,” although “inappropriate” is not defined
• Viewing or sending “any racist, sexist, pornographic, obscene, or threatening material”
• “Solicitations or purchases of a personal nature” (no sales or shopping)
• Conducting “unethical or illegal activities of any kind” or any “commercial, for-profit activities”
• Downloading copyrighted materials without the owner’s permission
• Using public social media networks for teaching unless te teacher first gets permission from the superintendent or their designee

A grandparent’s perspective 

James Dowdell, the grandfather of a rising eighth grader, says he’s in favor of the new cell phone policy.

“Kids, in my opinion, they brought that onto themselves,” he said. “Kids were in class texting, on other sites, and all that stuff.”

He understands that some parents want their kids to have a cell phone in case of an emergency, but he believes that the former cell phone policy was too permissive. Some parents, he said, believe a student has a right to have their phone. “Of course they had that right, but they abused the policy of that right. They abused the procedures of that right. So now, here we are,” Dowdell said.

Not just a Liberty County problem

Teachers across the United States complain about how much classroom time is wasted by teachers demanding that students put away cellphones. 

Teachers around the country who answered a survey by Education Week described students as suffering from “addiction” to cellphones. 

One wrote, “So many are constantly in need of the dopamine rush of checking their phones, texting, watching YouTube, etc., they’ve lost the ability to have any sort of sustained attention to anything.” 

Another wrote that the cell phone pouches like LCSS is implementing have helped: “I used to think we should be teaching them how to use them responsibly, but now I believe that is not possible…it would be like trying to teach someone to use heroin responsibly. I prefer them to have zero access to their phones.”

Dowdell believes getting students’ phone use under control now will stop a lot of bigger problems from developing.

“Parents, I’m sorry, it’s an unfortunate situation,” he said. “But it helps to solve the problem, hopefully. And it just compounds, It just leads to one problem to the next problem with these things happening, with kids having cell phones in school, if they want to engage in this unnecessary behavior….It’s a consequence for the action.”

Methods:

We read national and international academic studies of how cellphone use affects students, viewed LCSS discussions of the proposed plan and videos of people defeating the YONDR bag lock, and interviewed people directly impacted by the new policy.

Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.