Florida School District Bans Phones During School Day – Student Engagement Spikes

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Florida’s fourth largest school district banned cell phones before the start of the school year and a new report suggests the early results are promising.

In May, the Florida Legislature passed a new law prohibiting cell phone use while class is in session. This summer, Orange County Public Schools enacted an even stricter policy for the 2023–2024 school year – no phone use at all during the school day.

In a feature story published Monday, The New York Times interviewed teachers, students, parents and the principal at Timber Creek High School to get a glimpse at how the policy has fared after two months. Each of the parents and students said they had no problem with the state’s restrictions, but they all took issue with the district’s ban.

“Parents said their children should be able to contact them directly during free periods, while students described the all-day ban as unfair and infantilizing,” reporter Natasha Singer wrote.

Some students compared the new environment to a prison. Singer points out that surveillance has intensified in order to enforce the ban. For example, Timber Creek has a security officer “patrol lunch period on a golf cart, nabbing students violating the ban and driving them to the front office, where they must place their phones in a locked cabinet for the rest of the school day.”

MORE ENGAGING, COLLABORATIVE STUDENTS

Student feedback hasn’t been entirely negative, however. One Timber Creek senior says she has noticed more sincerity among her peers: “It has helped people be who they are – instead of who they are online – in school.”

Timber Creek Principal Marc Wasko said phone-related incidents and bullying are both down, and he’s noticed that students are now more responsive and make eye contact when he greets them.

Before the ban, Wasko claims: “We saw a lot of bullying … We had a lot of issues with students posting, or trying to record, things that went on during school time.”

Teachers told the paper things were “getting out of hand” in the post-COVID world. One teacher said students often met up in the bathroom to film dance videos, which she calls “Toilet TikToks.”

“Students are more talkative and more collaborative,” another teacher said. “I love it.”