Education

Minnesota middle school bans cellphone use, yielding surprising results, CBS, 11/29/23

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. . . . "Starting last year, we went to complete no cellphone use at all for any reason from 8:10 a.m. to 2:40 p.m., which is our school day," said principal Patrick Smith. Smith says the phone ban has made kids more engaged in class and with each other. . . . "And let's be real, with these devices, our students — especially our teenagers — there's a lot of drama that comes from social media, and a lot of conflict that comes from it," he said.

Smith says behavioral and bullying incidents are down. The school doesn't have data at this point showing grades are up, but parents we talked to see a difference.

. . . Smith says parents can still call the office to reach their kids. Every room in school has a phone.

Students are encouraged to leave their phone in their lockers but are allowed to have their phone on them. If the phones are seen being used, they're confiscated until the end of the day.

A little more: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/maple-grove-middle-school-cellphone-ban/