It’s official: Students are banned from using their phones during class time across Kentucky.
This occurred following the passage of Kentucky House Bill 208 in March, sponsored by several Northern Kentucky Representatives, which states that district boards of education must pass a policy that “at a minimum, prohibit a student’s use of a personal telecommunications device during instructional time.”
The law allows exceptions for emergency situations, times when phones and other devices are required to complete assignments, and times otherwise authorized by teachers. It also allows for exceptions under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Moreover, specific schools and districts have leeway in how they implement the policy. They can ban phones outright, limit them during instruction time only, or mandate students turn in their phones at the beginning of the day for redistribution upon dismissal. Now that the summer has rolled around, districts across the region are considering what’s right for them.
Some have already begun the process. Boone County Schools recently completed the first reading of a policy that mirrors the language of the bill. The policy is due for a second reading in August. Catholic schools are making changes, too: Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, which already requires student phones to be off and put away between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., is considering a more structured way of enforcing screen time. The school plans to hold round tables with parents at the end of July to help guide their policy revisions.
As an example, Walton-Verona High School began restricting cell phones last year. Prior to that, cell phone use was entirely at the teachers’ discretion. Now, the school’s policy is that phones are prohibited in class, in locker rooms and in bathrooms, but students can still use them between classes and at lunch. Nash characterized this as “common ground” between ensuring kids weren’t distracted during class while still enabling them to contact their parents in the event of an emergency.
“I thought it was important to have the student retain the cell phone,” said Walton-Verona High School Principal Adam Nash about his school’s phone policy.
Recent polling from the Pew Research Center indicates that support among Americans for classroom phone bans and total bans of phones at schools is growing.
“Today, 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class, up from 68% last fall,” the study’s authors write. Total bans are less popular, about 44%. Even so, that figure is an increase from last year, which was 36%.
“Kids are on phones way too much nowadays,” said Ashley Cooper, who has a daughter at Holy Cross Elementary School in Covington.
Cooper does not let her daughter take her phone to school, although she admits there are some situations where phones should be allowed, a view that many parents share. Earlier polling from Pew Research, for instance, suggests that one of the primary reasons people oppose bans is the view that parents should be able to reach their kids if necessary.
“There’s definitely more students with phone violations than any other behavioral infraction that we have,” said Walton-Verona High School Assistant Principal Sarah Hester.
Phones are naturally distracting, Hester said, even if you aren’t actively using them.
“If the phone is sitting face up on the desk, even if the student is doing their best to be engaged in whatever the classroom activity is in a given class period, they might get 50 notifications through their various social media apps,” Hester said. “And even for an adult, that’s hard to ignore.”
Beyond distractions in class, Cooper expressed concern about bullying on social media, given the various channels kids could use to bully and “ways to hide it,” Cooper said.
Kyleigh Cooper, Ashley Cooper’s 12-year-old daughter, said she started using a smartphone regularly around age 9. She admits that online bullying can be a problem.
“Online bullying, for example, I know that could make some people zone out,” Kyleigh Cooper said. “They could be more anxious.”
About two-thirds of Americans believe all-day cellphone bans could improve students’ social skills, grades and classroom behavior, according to Pew Research.
Phones are just one part of the equation, however. Other forms of technology have also made their way into schools, and some districts will even distribute Chromebooks and other devices to students (Walton-Verona High School does this). Kyleigh Cooper believes that certain kinds of work, like essay writing, work better with technology. Tests, on the other hand, should be hand-written, she said.
“Not only does it eliminate the probabilities of cheating,” Kyleigh Cooper said, “it also gives me more of a chance to write down what I’m thinking and explain what I’m thinking.”
Kyleigh Cooper also observed that students will sometimes use generative AI software like ChatGPT to write essays and complete work for them, something she wasn’t in favor of. She did think, however, that AI tools could be used to help explain concepts or problem-solving strategies.
In short, there are a variety of attitudes around technology in schools, but people who spoke with LINK nky all agreed that some guardrails were necessary.
“We tried to create that environment where they could focus for 45, 50 minutes at a time without that distraction,” Nash said of his school’s policy.
LINK nky is a media partner of WCPO.com.
