It's detention time for cellphones at Cleveland schools
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For many local students, returning to school means saying goodbye to something they seemingly can't live without — their cellphones.
Why it matters: Banning cellphones has become trendy as educators look to remove distractions in the classroom.
Driving the news: Today is the first day of school for grades 1-12 at Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), which has banned students from using phones during school hours.
How it works: "Each school will have a system in place for storing phones during school hours," CMSD's policy reads.
- "Some schools will use the Yondr program, which provides secure pouches for phones. These pouches will stay with students throughout the school day, ensuring their phones are safely stored while minimizing distractions."
- The pouches, which have sometimes been used at comedy shows, can be unlocked and opened magnetically at the end of the day.
State of play: The policy is an early adoption of House Bill 250 signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in May, requiring all public K-12 schools to govern cellphone usage.
- The law gives schools until July 2025 to put a policy in place, but several districts in the state, including CMSD and Akron Public Schools, are ahead of the game.
The big picture: Florida and Indiana were the first states to restrict phone use in schools. California and New York may soon follow.
- Los Angeles voted to enact a ban that'll start this spring. New York City — the nation's largest school district, with 1.1 million students — plans to follow suit.
Threat level: In a Pew Research Center survey conducted last fall, 72% of K-12 teachers said students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem in classrooms.
- Some schools have found that bans increase student concentration and decrease cyber bullying, according to the New York Times.
- Critics say bans can lead to overly harsh disciplinary measures that make schools feel prisonlike and could pose safety concerns.
Zoom in: Parma City Schools banned phones in its high schools during the 2023-2024 school year and reported positive results to Cleveland.com.
- Shari Obrenski, president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, likewise told Signal Cleveland this week that the ban is going "pretty well" at year-round CMSD schools that have already started.