Not All Agree With Middletown's Proposed Cell Phone 'Ban' In Schools

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At their meeting last Wednesday, the Middletown school board introduced its first-ever cell phone "ban" in schools.

It's not really a ban: In elementary/middle schools, students will have to keep their mobile devices turned off, and in their backpacks or lockers. If a student needs to talk to their parent or guardian, they need to get permission to turn their cell phone on.

At the high school level, students will be allowed to keep their phones on their person, such as in their pockets. But phones have to be turned off in class. Students can use the cell phone during the 80-minute "free" block they have at lunch.

Board member Kate Farley wrote and proposed the policy.

She just wrote a new concession in the policy that will allow high schoolers to use the cell phones during non-classroom times, such as walking in hallways between classes. Teens will also be allowed to be on their phones before and after school, and in locker rooms.

As we reported last week, this is the first time Middletown has attempted such a policy. And not all parents support it.

The biggest concern parents have is they want to be able to reach their son or daughter if there is an emergency during the day — or if something far worse happens, such as a school shooting or other emergency.

"I'm not against the policy. But I do feel like there could be a few tweaks to it," said BOE member Joan Minnuies. "I just want to know if there are a few things that could be tweaked. I'm just concerned about the turn off (phones would have to be turned off at the elementary/middle school level). Once you turn the phone off, you lose the ability to track your child. Is there any way we can, say, silence them?"

Minnuies asked the board to do a community survey on the topic before passing the policy.

Tobacco replied that the board has never done a community survey before passing a new policy.

"It doesn't hurt to do the survey," Minnuies responded.

The Middletown school board first started talking about cell phone restrictions at their meeting in May. When the topic was first brought up, Board president Frank Capone said the district already does not permit cell phones to be used in class — teachers just need to enforce it.

"I think we're at the point where overall 90-95 percent we are there," said Capone at the end of the meeting last week. "Let's bring this back to policy and see what we have for our next meeting. Make sense?"

The Board did not vote on the policy last Wednesday; it was only introduced. The policy will be up for a vote at the next Middletown BOE meeting, scheduled for July 30.

Montclair, L.A. and New York City school districts about to pass similar cell phone bans

The Middletown school district is ahead of the curve when it comes to restricting cell phones in schools:

The Montclair school district just unveiled this plan to make its three middle schools and high schools "phone free" during class. The Los Angeles school district will ban all cell phones starting in September, and New York City public schools are about to pass a similar ban.

The problem in Montclair seems to be similar to Middletown: There are existing policies on the books that say students cannot use phones in class. However, in a class of say, 25 students, it can be difficult for a teacher to prevent — or notice — a student furtively texting under his desk.

Farley said she wrote the cell phone ban because studies show students improve academically, mentally and social/emotionally when they have less access to phones during the school day.

At the June 26 meeting, Farley cited some data:

• Students regularly interrupted by text messages had test scores 10.6 percent lower than students whose phones were off and away.
• Studies show that when smartphones are away, test scores increase up to 14 percent among the lowest-achieving students.
• In terms of mental health, teenagers in the United States who spend 3 hours or more a day on electronic devices are at a 35 percent higher risk of suicide than those who spend less than one hour on them.
• Schools that have implemented and enforced “away for the day” cell phone policies have seen a reduction in mental health issues and an increase in academic performance. For example, one recent study showed a 60 percent decrease in referrals to mental health professionals for female students after their school enforced such a policy.
• Finally, "a troublingly high number of the alleged harassment, intimidation, and bullying incidents reported to the Board each month involve student use of cell phones," said Farley.

Tulp and Tobacco: We need to confront bullying over texting and social media

Board members Jacqueline Tobacco and Gary Tulp said one of the biggest reasons why they both support the new policy is because it addresses online/texting/social media bullying.

An important part of the new policy is that if a student is found to be using their phone to bully or harass another student — even if the phone is being used off campus — the student will no longer be allowed to bring the phone to school.

"It is a privilege to bring a phone to school and have access to it," said Tobacco. "Nobody is taking the phones away. If there's an emergency, they can use it ... This board is responsible for social media or text bullying outside of school hours. So if we get a report that girls had a sleepover and text messages were sent or SnapChats were sent, we have to investigate. I can't sit here and pretend we don't have a problem with bullying in this district."

"Parents have concerns that are rooted in security — I get that," said Tulp. "But our policy allows students to have the phones. The point of this is the phones need to be off and put away. The policy is designed to limit distractions in a routine school day. It doesn't hinder students from contacting parents if there actually is a building emergency."

"The more pressing issue is the actual emergency confronting us right now and happening every minute of every day, as these devices and apps saturate their lives," he continued, referring to online bullying.

"We should have done this years ago," said Board member Deborah Wright. "I think maybe this doesn't go far enough."

Last week: Middletown Board Of Ed. Introduces Cell Phone Ban In Schools (June 26)

Montclair Will Make Some Students ‘Lock’ Their Phones During Class (July 2)