Last year, on the first day of school in the Edwardsville School District, Superintendent Patrick Shelton was standing at the high school’s front door to welcome students.
But many of the students weren’t even looking up. Their attention was elsewhere.
“It was really common for students to have phones in their hands, AirPods in their ears, even walking through the hallway, sometimes in classrooms,” Shelton said, adding that the various devices “were definitely showing up as a distraction to just everyday interaction, not just instruction.”
Other times, the devices served as more than just a distraction.
“Like every high school, we have, every once in a while, a fight or a physical altercation,” he said. “Cellphones are being pulled out to video, as opposed to [stopping] the altercation, which was just exacerbating the problem, especially with social media.”
These issues aren’t unique to Edwardsville. For years, teachers, students and parents have clashed over the role of cellphones in schools. This year, multiple school districts have instituted policies that prohibits students from using cellphones and other devices during the day. The policies differ across districts: In Ferguson-Florissant, students must place their phones in a locked pouch called a Yondr bag during the day. Other districts employ different policies, depending on grade, or rely on teachers to set a policy for their own classroom.
These district-level policies banning cellphones are spreading at a time when lawmakers in Missouri and Illinois are pursuing statewide bans. Both Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe have publicly thrown their support behind their state's measures.
In Edwardsville, the policy launched this year was a product of collaboration between the district and students. The policy does not use Yondr bags but requires students to keep their phones “out of sight” during the regular school day.
Amulya Girada, a senior at Edwardsville High School, was part of the student advisory board that worked on the policy that debuted this school year. She said that having her phone available in class often meant she was using her spare minutes to scroll through TikTok instead of getting started on an assignment.
This year is different.
“Not being allowed to be on my phone, with those 10 minutes I can get even more than I thought I could get done on the worksheet, and I have the opportunity to go ask my teacher a question about something I might be confused on, rather than struggle with it at home,” she said. “It's definitely a lot more helpful, or even just socializing with my peers.”
The new policy hasn’t been a hit with every student.
“It was at first a bad reaction,” conceded Edwardsville High School junior Josie Proctor. “We were coming off a year where you could have your phone out whenever you wanted. But I think over time people realized it could be worse, like there's those pouches that you have to lock. Putting my phone in my backpack when I'm told to is better than checking [a phone] in the office every day.”
To hear the full conversation about the state of school cellphone bans with Edwardsville School District Superintendent Patrick Shelton and high school students Amulya Girada and Josie Proctor, including a discussion how the students advised the district on the new policy, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
