Portland Public Schools is developing a districtwide cellphone policy that will further restrict students’ use of personal smart devices during the school day. Proponents believe the change will reduce problematic behaviors, such as bullying, and improve students’ mental health and academic success.
Districts throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington have been trying to devise their own policies for some time, and most individual schools already have some limitations in place. A group of Oregon lawmakers is exploring a ‘statewide approach’ to school cellphone policies as well. But Portland still has a ways to go before anything is finalized.
On Wednesday afternoon, the PPS school board’s policy committee considered a resolution — it doesn’t define the cellphone policy but solidifies the board’s intention to have one.
The policy discussion has been on the committee’s agenda for months. They’ve presented a draft policy to the public that serves as a framework for what’s to come. Committee chair Julia Brim-Edwards said a lot could still change, especially as they determine what needs to be a districtwide rule versus what can be decided at each school.
Wednesday’s “student mental health and learning” resolution articulates why the board is proposing these restrictions. In it, school leaders state that developing such a policy is “critical” for students to “achieve the outcomes we believe they are capable of.”
Research shows that smartphone use and screen time have a substantial impact on the brain, especially for adolescents, whose brains are still developing. Some researchers have compared young people’s reliance on phones to an addiction, so much so that some young people exhibit withdrawal symptoms when they can’t use their devices.
Studies show mobile addiction can affect young people physically, psychologically and academically. Sleep deficits, anxiety, stress and depression — which researchers say can be associated with internet abuse — have been related to mobile phone usage, too.
“We know it’s a mental health issue, and we know of the dangers,” board vice chair and committee member Michelle DePass said in this week’s meeting. “We are morally obligated to do something about it.”
Cyberbullying is also a growing concern with the regular use of smartphones.
Grant High School Principal James McGee shared a general example of what they often see in schools — students taking photos of others during passing periods or lunch, for instance, and posting them online with mean comments. This, a parent later said, makes it hard for adults to intervene if they don’t even know it’s happening.
“They have normalized some of these problematic behaviors because they don’t know any better,” McGee said. “Our goal is to give students a seven-hour respite.”
Grant High is taking steps of its own this year, even without a districtwide policy in place. As previously reported by OPB, the school plans to contract with Yondr, a company that sells pouches for students to put their phones in. Starting this fall, Grant students will lock their phones in a Yondr pouch and only receive them back when they leave school.
Students store their cell phones while attending class at Grant High School in Portland, Ore., Oct. 3, 2023. The school opened in September, 1924, and is in the Portland Public Schools district..
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Beaumont Middle School and Cleveland High School will also have increased restrictions this coming school year, which will serve as focus groups to inform the policy committee’s decisions for the district.
McGee said that taking away students’ phones for the entire school day not only reduces bullying but also leads to deeper engagement in the classroom. This, he said, is especially important for lower-performing students who may use their phones as an excuse or distraction to avoid engaging in class.
Beaumont Principal Harriette Vimegnon said not having phones in the classroom also allows students to think more critically; she said studies have shown test scores go up when cellphones are removed from the equation.
“Do we want them to focus on their instruction,” Vimegnon said, “or do we want them to focus on their device and the notifications?”
According to the draft resolution, the committee will seek feedback in the fall — a change from the board’s earlier hope to have a policy ready by September. Committee members on Wednesday discussed a general goal of having the new policy in place by the start of the second semester.
Related: Where do Oregon and Washington officials stand on cellphones in schools?
What comes next?
The committee plans to hold focus groups and collect more feedback from principals, families and unions. This comes after a few recent staff surveys showing overwhelming support for stricter and more consistent cellphone policies.
One staff survey shared in the agenda documents Wednesday showed that about 98% of the nearly 240 respondents had concerns about how cellphones are affecting students, and 94% said they would like a districtwide policy.
PPS policy committee chair Brim-Edwards said they plan to survey students in the fall but will be mindful of the questions. For example, they won’t ask whether students want a districtwide cellphone policy — that’s already going to happen. They will, however, ask them to explain what they need their phones for and what concerns they have if they can’t access them during the school day.
Brim-Edwards said the responses will help the committee incorporate solutions into the policy. Once they have more policy specifics, they plan to survey parents, she said.
Kyra Caspary, an education researcher and the parent of a Roosevelt High School student, was the only person to testify at the committee meeting this week. She supports a districtwide policy but urged the committee to be thoughtful about how the district educates families on the change. Some parents have shared concerns with Brim-Edwards about how students might be disciplined if they break the rules, for example.
“This is a really big culture shift,” Caspary said. “Students are used to having their phones, and parents are used to being able to access their kids during the day. And so, we’re going to need help, as parents, to understand.”
Related: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek supports ‘statewide approach’ on school cellphone policies
The committee will still need to flesh out various details. For example, how will the policy handle students who use phone apps to monitor serious health disorders? Will it be up to each school to restrict phone access during passing periods, lunch or school activities? Will phones be allowed on field trips or for students who eat lunch off campus?
Committee members acknowledged the district will also need to do a lot of work, school by school, to ensure front offices are prepared for more calls from parents coming to them instead of them directly contacting individual students.
As Brim-Edwards pointed out when talking with OPB, schools operated that way for decades before cellphones — families called the front office. This still happens in elementary schools, too, where most students don’t have phones.
“I’ve heard from hundreds of parents, and (it’s been) overwhelmingly positive,” she said, “but they also have questions about how it’s going to be implemented.”