PLYMOUTH, Minn. — The relationship between kids and screen time is a tale as old as tech, but Minnesota parents and educators say cell phone dependence has become more than a distraction in recent years.
"It's two-fold since the pandemic. It's out of control," said Erick Norby, principal of Armstrong High School in Plymouth. "I have four kids of my own, and two that are seniors. They are on their phones constantly. I observe that as a parent."
As a principal, Norby said he's observed how that growing dependence on phones has magnified problems in school.
"In my role, I see isolation and I see a lot of cyberbullying that happens, and a lot of times it happens during the school day," he said. "In classrooms, it was getting to a point where (students) weren't even listening to the teacher if they had their phone out. The teacher would re-teach and re-teach and the kids would ask the same questions, they're not paying attention."
Robbinsdale schools have communicated expectations for cell phone use in years past, generally prohibiting the use of phones during class time, and limiting certain types of access in between classes. But Norby said those expectations were short on consequences.
"It was very vague and it was just discretionary," he said. "We just did whatever we wanted to. Now we kind of have a plan."
In a letter to parents, he and other high school principals outlined a three-strike policy for unauthorized cell phone use in class. It begins with a warning but escalates quickly.
Norby: "If it happens again in the same class period, the teacher will again re-direct the student and then call home, and make contact with the parent."
Kent Erdahl: "On the second warning?"
Norby: "Yes, the second warning includes notifying the parent."
If that doesn't end the behavior, he sayid teachers will notify someone else to remove the cell phone for the day.
"Teachers will not touch the phone," he said. "We want teachers teaching, we have support staff that will work with the students and the families if that phone needs to be taken."
The new guidelines for Robbinsdale Middle Schools are much simpler and much, much tougher on tech use.
"They are off limits all day," he said. "It's bell to bell, once that bell goes off it's away, it's in their locker and it's there for the day."
In explaining the policies, the district is pointing families to research into the mental health and learning issues associated with cell phone use in school. It's also highlighting recent polls, which have shown a turn in preference among parents following the pandemic.
"We're two days into this new policy and I have not received one negative phone call or email about the policy," Norby said. "I have gotten emails saying, 'Thank you for finally doing something about this.'"
Though he knows students will be a tougher sell.
Norby: "For high school, it's only 50 minutes. Can you go 50 minutes without your phone?"
Erdahl: "How hard do you think that will be for some of these kids?"
Norby: "I know it's going to be hard. It is an addiction and I see it very clearly in the school every day. And I think that we have to do something to stop the addiction. That first couple of weeks, it's going to be kind of tough, we anticipate that, that we're going to have to re-teach and talk to kids about the why, and I feel like once we get into it it will be fine."
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