To reduce class time disruptions during the summer term, Homewood-Flossmoor High School students were instructed to put their cell phones in designated storage cabinets for the class period. It was a trial run, and although it did improve the classroom environment, the overall response was against a new cell phone storage policy.
So, this school year teachers will be “re-committing” to enforcing the District 233 policy for phones to be “out of sight,” said H-F Principal Clinton Alexander in an informational letter to parents and students.
He said the policy expects “students to power off and store the phones in backpacks, pockets or other way that is not a disruption to their learning or their peers.” He added: “We want our students to engage in learning and be free from the distractions and social stress often caused by frequent cell phone use.”
Near the end of the six-week summer school program, students, parents and teachers were surveyed, and the switch of removing phones from a student’s immediate access had positive results.
Alexander told parents: “Overall, students, staff and families reported increased student collaboration, communication and overall engagement when cell phone access was minimized during instructional time.”
He said the survey also found that students “would like autonomy to put their phone out of sight instead of in the storage container” and staff told administrators the “routine of checking-in and checking-out phones to start and end a class period was time consuming.”
Alexander asked parents to “strongly encourage” students to follow the procedures, and stressed that staff and administrators “will reinforce a discipline procedure for those students who cannot make the adjustment. If this procedure is not successful, we will strongly consider implementing a full-scale cell phone procedure which requires students to turn in their phones into a secured location every class period.”
The note from Alexander also included links to more than three dozen articles on how cell phone usage affects classroom learning and a student’s mental health. Numerous studies have shown that cell phones are having a negative effect on grades and overall learning. In one article reporting on a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study, data showed that cellphone distraction harms the grades not just of students who use electronic devices in class, but even of those who don’t.
H-F provides every student with a Chromebook for schoolwork, so a cell phone is not essential for student learning, Alexander noted. Students who fail to follow the policy will have the teacher take the cell phone and place it in classroom lockbox for the remainder of the period. With a second reprimand, the student will be referred to the Dean’s Office where the phone will be placed in a lockbox for the remainder of the school day and the student will receive a consequence. Consequences will increase with repeated offenses. Alexander did not outline what those will be.
Flossmoor District 161 instituted a cell phone policy in 2023. It mandates Parker Junior High students put their phones in a Yondr pouch that uses a lock that can only be opened with a strong magnet. At the end of the day, students touch the Yondr bag lock against magnets mounted by the building’s exits as they walk out.
Superintendent Dana Smith told the Chronicle that policy will continue “since the results have been positive for our school community.”
Homewood District 153 students at James Hart School can bring phones to school, but then the phones should be locked in student lockers during the school day. Superintendent Scott McAlister said this policy has been in place for several years.
