Bangor School Department leaders are considering strengthening rules banning students from using their cellphones in the next academic year.
School Committee members on Wednesday launched a discussion on whether to revise the School Department’s current policy, which prohibits students from using cellphones during class “except when the administration authorizes use for a specific educational, health or safety purpose.”
School Committee members and Marie Robinson, Bangor school superintendent, were generally in favor of banning cellphones in kindergarten through eighth grade, but disagreed on how strong rules for high schoolers should be.
While some committee members feel cellphones interfere with high schoolers’ ability to focus in class, others argued older students could need the devices to stay connected in the event of an emergency or changes in their sport, club after-school job schedules.
If Bangor approves the stronger rules, it would be the latest school department to crack down on cellphones over growing concerns that they distract students and are harmful to their mental health. Some states, such as Florida, Indiana and Ohio, have passed laws that ban phones in schools statewide, the Associated Press reported.
No final decisions were made on Wednesday. Robinson said she hopes to review changes to the rules throughout the remainder of this academic year and could begin enforcing them in the fall.
Timothy Surrette, School Committee member, said he has heard positive things from schools that give every student a safe spot to leave their phones in their homerooms. This, he said, would remove the distraction altogether.
“There’s been a ton of research on phones being distracting for students, even just having them with them,” Surrette said. “Having them on their body vibrating and dinging, the thought of the phone being there is distracting during their academics.”
Imke Jandreau, School Committee member, said she doesn’t feel elementary and middle school students need to have their cellphones in school, but the technology could be useful in high school lessons on media literacy or teaching students how to verify what they see online.
School officials were in favor of making exceptions for students who use cellphones for health reasons, such as tracking their blood sugar levels throughout the school day.
Currently, Bangor schools ask students to keep their cellphones in their lockers during class, according to Robinson. If a student is seen using their devices during class, they’re given a warning. If the same student’s phone is seen again, teachers will usually confiscate it and give it back at the end of the day.
For some students whose phones are a continuous issue, Robinson said they’re required to drop their devices off in the main office at the beginning of each day.
The department’s existing cellphone policy also makes students responsible for turning off their electronics during the school day and strictly prohibits devices in locker rooms, bathrooms and “other places where privacy is generally expected.”
Ben Sprague, School Committee member, said there could be a difference between what schools’ rules are and what happens in reality. Because of this, he’s in favor of a blanket policy prohibiting students from having their cellphones during the day.
“I’m hearing from teachers everywhere that [devices] are chronic and constantly interrupting the school day as well as the flow of thought and education,” Sprague said. “I feel like we’re, as a human species, going through a huge science experiment about what our brains can handle with this level of interruption and distraction.”
