On October 22, the Boulder Valley School Board discussed the results of an important survey—a survey that concerned student phones. Earlier this year, Boulder Valley Schools announced that it was considering a bell-to-bell ban on student personal technology devices (PTDs), and the October survey was used to see what exactly the students and parents thought about banning those devices on campus.
Their decision? The phones must go.
BVSD is the latest large Colorado school district to restrict cell phone use. Adams 12 Schools, the Poudre School District (Fort Collins), Douglas County Schools, and Greeley 6 Schools all have implemented bell-to-bell cell phone bans. Jefferson County Schools, the second-largest district in Colorado, has bell-to-bell bans in most of its high schools and is, like Boulder, considering a districtwide ban.
No Colorado school district has gone as far as Colorado Springs District 11, which has adopted a Yondr device pouch system. Each student is assigned a Yondr pouch, and as they come into the school, they put all PTDs in the pouch (including cell phones, headphones, and smartwatches). The pouch is then magnetically locked, and the student carries their pouch with them the entire day until it is unlocked at the end of the school day.
Over 1,000 schools use Yondr pouches across the country, and Colorado Springs paid over $300,000 to install the Yondr system in every middle and high school. In their October 22 meeting, the Boulder Valley School Board considered if they might adopt the Yondr system or smaller cell phone lockers.
This all raises the question: what about St. Vrain Valley Schools?
SVVSD currently has no districtwide cell phone policy, and there are no current agenda items on the St. Vrain Valley School Board agenda asking for a ban. However, the pressure for SVVSD to adopt a cell phone ban for their high schools—including Frederick High—is mounting. According to Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has announced $50,000 of grant money available to individual schools that want to restrict use of PTDs. Colorado may also join 18 other states that ban or restrict student cell phone use as a matter of state law.
The adults around education all seem for a ban. 83% of teachers want cell phones banned from school campuses, and the National Education Association shows that the best teachers are leaving districts without bans to go to districts with bans. Even Boulder’s parent survey showed that 99% of their parents support banning PTDs.
Who is against these bans? Students.
Freshman Morgan Runquist brought up the utility of cell phones: “School iPads can’t get to some websites that you might need, but with your phone, you can do those websites.”
Junior Ariana Garcia brought up school safety: “We need [our phones] in case of an emergency: you never know what could happen, so it’s important to have it on you. It can be a distraction during class, but like I said, you never know what could happen.”
Freshman Breanna Macias brought up family communication: “We need to have our phones for contacting parents because you never know what could happen in seven hours.”
These are all issues the Boulder Valley School Board discussed, but they are moving forward with phone restrictions for two main reasons: better learning and student mental health. A Pew Research study from earlier this year found that 44% of teens have anxiety when separated from their phone (a condition called nomophobia) and 38% of teens say that they are on their phone too much. Phone use is also correlated with an increase in teen depression, anxiety, and suicidal idiation.
The Boulder Valley School Board ended their October 22 meeting by recommending that the bell-to-bell ban go into effect in January at the start of second semester. It’s now up to the BVSD superintendent to figure out if that timeline is realistic or if it needs to be delayed.
Either way, Boulder students are losing their phone access. In the past, St. Vrain Valley Schools has used BVSD as a model for their own policies. Be ready, Frederick High students: the ban could happen here. And it could happen sooner than you may think.
