A new policy imposing a cell phone-free school day is on the table, and though some Lawrence parents believe it would better support teachers and students’ mental health, others said they’re worried about the safety implications.

The Lawrence school board will consider approving a cell phone policy draft that says personal cell phones and devices must be “turned off and stored out of sight at all times during school hours” across the district.

Ann Hossler is the parent of a Free State freshman who previously attended Raintree Montessori School, which enforced a strict cell phone ban. Hossler said reading “The Anxious Generation” solidified her concerns about smartphone and social media addiction.

The book, by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, has been a resource for other groups evaluating cell phone bans.

“There is hard evidence that links social media and smartphones to the decline of, you know, teenagers’, especially women’s, mental health,” Hossler said. “Even emotionally, you have some kind of struggle that you have to work with, but we distract ourselves with phones instead of processing the emotion.”

Hossler is also a University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design professor who, along with the rest of the interior architecture department, has banned all devices in her studio classes. There are few exceptions, including occasional headphones and music as they’re working.

The response from Hossler’s students has been mostly positive. Device-free zones help ideas flow and promote professionalism and social engagement, she said. Typically if students breach the device-free zone, Hossler opts to make a general announcement and then start reminding students directly. She said other professors may give out unexcused absences after the first reminder.

“We just got so frustrated with the students being on their cell phones all the time and realized it’s impacting their creativity,” Hossler said. “It was even before reading ‘The Anxious Generation,’ but recognizing it wasn’t healthy for them. And also, professionally, if you’re working in a firm, you’re not gonna pull your phone out and make a Tiktok video or, like, start scrolling Snapchat, right?”

Consequences are not outlined in the draft policy for Lawrence K-12 students.

Interim Superintendent Jeanice Swift said during a Board Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday that the district will use an adaptive process.

She said high school students may learn to manage their device usage so that they can potentially use them to coordinate their athletics or work schedules during the school day, for example.

Mica Slappy’s daughter is active in athletics and other extracurriculars at LHS. Slappy said she values having a direct channel of communication with her daughter.

“The coaches may say that they’re having practice, and then I find out that they don’t have practice,” Slappy said. “I’m supposed to be picking her up, and it’s nice for me to be able to contact her just with a simple text. I don’t try to be disruptive. I don’t do it often, just to see if her schedule has changed for today, so I can make a change to my work schedule, because I’m not a stay-at-home mom.”

Vera Cliff agreed there are benefits to cell phones and other devices in schools. Some parents, including her, track their kids’ locations from their phones. Cliff has two children in middle school — one who will be heading into high school next year — and one child in elementary. She said they understand they’re prohibited from using their phones under the current elementary and middle school policies, so they keep them stored away.

“It’s a tool nowadays, like, it’s almost like it’s a safety tool,” Cliff said. “If you’re in a situation, the first thing you think is, ‘Where’s my cell phone?’ … And then also, my son has asthma, and if he were to have an asthma attack or something, and he wasn’t able to get help, pulling out his cell phone, dialing for help, would be faster.”

Slappy said she’s concerned about the outcomes of a ban and feels student voices are missing. Her daughter told her sometimes teachers allow phone use during downtime, and that students who are on their phones during class are mostly playing games.

Swift said the district may potentially purchase unlocked plastic pouches so phones could be hung up in classrooms, or consider other options for interested teachers. The pouches would not be required in all classrooms.

Sending children to school is increasingly daunting for families as school shootings occur around the country, Cliff said. The Lawrence school district has been dealing with a surge in threats of gun violence.

“I have a child that has autism — high spectrum, he’s high functioning, and he’s very intelligent, but because he sometimes goes in and out of the classrooms as a special-ed student, I could see him getting lost,” Cliff said. “If there’s a shooting, they wouldn’t know where he’s at.”

Exceptions listed in the draft include for students with documented medical needs and students with individualized education plan (IEP) accommodations. The draft also mentions emergencies: “In the event of an emergency, students are encouraged to follow instructions from school staff. Cell phones may be used to communicate with emergency services or family members as directed.”

According to the draft, the purpose of the new policy is to “establish standards for protecting student learning and prioritizing instructional time.”

Teacher concerns

A group of more than 80 Lawrence educators submitted a petition to the school board at the end of last school year. The petition requested the district require phones to be stored from the first bell until the last bell of the day.

Teachers who spoke to the board in June said cell phone usage in their classrooms has become a crisis, and having to use their discretion can cause conflict with students and take away from instructional time.

Justin Blumenstiel, father of a Free State student, organized a group of more than 100 parents to sign a petition in support of those teachers.

He spoke to the board in August and emphasized urgency.

A presentation along with Blumenstiel’s petition also included data on negative mental health outcomes in recent years correlated with social media usage, also quoting Haidt: “The research is clear: Smartphones undermine attention, learning, relationships, and belonging.”

He said he thought it was important that there be a uniform policy for teachers to use.

“That was one of the major frustrations that the teachers had — that there was varying policies from classroom to classroom, and if there wasn’t a consistent policy, it just ended up being the teachers having to enforce things,” Blumenstiel said.

In addition to cell phones, smart watches, tablets, e-readers and other personal electronic devices would be prohibited. It’s not clear in the draft what specific actions teachers should take if students don’t comply with the new policy.

Blumenstiel said although some specifics about implementation aren’t yet outlined for the public, he supports ushering in cell phone-free schools.

“From my perspective, the best thing to do is have a clear policy first, and then the details can be worked out subsequently, if there are further issues that arise next semester,” Blumenstiel said.

School board meeting

The school board is set to discuss the draft policy and take a vote on Monday. If approved, the new policy will be implemented in January with the beginning of the spring 2025 semester.

The Board Policy Committee’s draft on Tuesday said the policy would apply to “all students, staff, and visitors on school premises during school hours and during school-related activities.” An updated version attached to the agenda for Monday’s meeting only says the policy would apply to students.

Also during Monday’s meeting, Swift will give a report about her series of fall community engagement events. The meeting will conclude with a 45-minute executive session, or closed-door meeting. Board members and Swift are set to discuss personnel matters of nonelected personnel, with no action to follow.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26. Full meeting agendas are available on BoardDocs, via go.boarddocs.com.

To give public comment during the board meeting, sign up before the meeting starts either in person or by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org. Commenters may request to participate by Webex video/phone conferencing.

Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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