Education | Anne Arundel County schools crack down on student cellphone use following mental health concerns

As students increasingly retreat into their cellphones during school hours, Anne Arundel County Public Schools and area private schools are putting in place new policies to limit usage in an effort to address concerns over safety, academic performance and student well-being.

Educators say they observed students using their phones during downtime, sometimes to spread rumors of threats or coordinate fights.

This year, Anne Arundel County Public Schools changed its cellphone policy.

"People have expressed a sincere level of gratitude that we've taken the position we have," Superintendent Mark Bedell said. "I've talked to teachers, and they're telling me there's just a different focus."

Elementary and middle school students must have their phones off or on silent and out of sight throughout the school day. High school students may use their phones at lunch, but they must be off or on silent and out of sight at all other times, including when switching classes.

Punishment for students who violate the rules ranges from a warning to confiscation. Confiscated phones must be picked up by a parent or guardian. Bedell said he favors an incremental approach because it's a difficult adjustment.

"That's why I didn't do a full-blown ban. It doesn't sit well with me to take away their way of seeing the world," he said.

Emily Archer, a former Anne Arundel Public Schools teacher, explained how cellphones can escalate student conflicts and make teaching more difficult.

"By and large, the students are doing what they're supposed to be doing, and they're off their cellphones," Archer said. "It's more of a problem when there's drama."

Students see something upsetting on their phones, and they're not able to focus on the work, Archer said. Rumors also spread fast with phones, which can cause fear and panic.

Ninety-five percent of teens now report having a smartphone or access to one, according to a Pew Research Center survey, and 45% of teens say they are online nearly constantly.

Social media can be detrimental to health, particularly for young people. Research done by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, shows its platforms negatively impact teen mental health. Browsing social media can increase the risk of body image issues, self-harm and other mental health consequences.

Bedell said he understands students' pull to check their phones because he feels it, too. He said he often points out that students are in school for just 19.3% of their week and need to give their full attention for that short period.

"We can't control the other 79.7% of the time that we don't have them," Bedell said. "But we have a lot of control in the 19.3%, and my job is to get our kids to understand that we want them to focus on becoming curious learners, effective collaborators."

Going into the school year, Bedell and the Board of Education were prepared to revisit the cellphone policy by the end of the first marking period, which is the last week in October, if they were not seeing improvements.

Bedell has worked in school districts that use Yondr pouches, lockable fabric bags that hold phones. Phones go into the bags at the start of the day and are unlocked at the end. The pouches cost roughly $25-$30 per student, according to the company.

Though test scores went up at the schools that used Yondr pouches, Bedell said, based on feedback, it doesn't seem necessary to escalate to that level of enforcement in Anne Arundel County.

St. Mary's High School, a Catholic school in Annapolis, cracked down on cellphones after the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were allowed to use their phones during the pandemic to collaborate with students who were working from home. Last year, the expectation shifted to phones being out of sight for the entire day.

"It immediately had an effect," said the school's principal, Joseph Keenan. "It seems like the overall positive spirit among students is greater when the cellphones are away."

Keenan said he was motivated to change the school's approach to cellphones after a teacher came to him and said, "One of the most depressing things I've ever seen: I let my students have a break in class, and it was completely silent."

"We want our students to build genuine relationships with people who are part of their community, part of their school. And I think that having a cellphone inhibits that to a great degree," Keenan said.

St. Mary's surveyed last year's seniors, and the feedback on the cellphone policy was overwhelming: "Do you know it's harmful? Yes. Do you want to give it up? No."

St. Anne's School of Annapolis, an independent K-8 school, took a firmer stance this year. Students are not permitted to bring phones to school unless their parents or guardians submit a permission slip. Students with phones must drop them off in the office in the morning and pick them up before heading home.

Connie Coker, head of school, was inspired after the school community was encouraged to read "The Anxious Generation," a book detailing the impact of cellphones and social media on youth.

"There are no cellphones in the school that are accessible to students during the day, and we're already seeing a dramatic improvement to culture, climate, teaching, and learning," Coker said.

St. Anne's previous policy was that phones must be out of sight during the day. But Coker and Assistant Head of School Hadley Moore said that students still found ways to check them by taking long bathroom breaks or dawdling in the hallways. This year, they've noticed that students are changing classes more quickly and are taking shorter bathroom breaks.

St. Anne's is collecting quantitative data on student wellness and academic performance to measure the impact of the cellphone policy and plans to present it at the National Association of Independent Schools, in February.

Coker and Moore said feedback from the community has been largely positive, including from students.

"They understand the technology is addictive, and they understand the positive impact it could have -- not only on their academic experience but also on their social interactions when their face isn't buried in a phone during unstructured time," Coker said.

Bedell has visited close to 50 schools this year. Students sometimes approach him to ask about the cellphone policy, and he tries to be direct with them.

"I don't want my legacy as a superintendent to be that I cheated you all because I didn't hold you accountable, because I turned my head the other way, and now you're graduating, and you're not ready for the rigors of what this world has to offer," Bedell said. "I can't have that on my conscience."