NEW YORK — At a Long Island high school, a normal school day now begins with students putting their cell phones in a case and leaving them there all day.
“We want our kids to be healthy,” said Daniel McCabe, principal at Nesaquake Middle School in Smithtown. “We want them to be engaged in school, to be in a distraction-free environment.”
McCabe pointed to studies that have shown that eliminating cell phones and distractions from the classroom will improve student engagement, mental health and even well-being. For the past two years, the district has had a no cell phone policy in classrooms, but it is often ignored.
Eighth-grader Taylor Kratz said when someone’s cell phone rings during class, it can be a distraction.
“The kids have them in their pockets and Snapchat goes off, ding ding, and the teacher says ‘Put your phone in your locker,’ and everyone stops to watch him walk out of the room,” Kratz said.
The cell phone cases are being used at all three high schools and are costing the district approximately $67,000. A replacement cover costs about $25. But administrators believe the cost is worth it, since nothing else has worked so far.
When asked about cell phone organizers where children can leave their phones before entering class, McCabe said that “even the presence of those phones hanging on the organizer proved to be a distraction.” She added that with notifications ringing all day, the children were stressed because they felt like they had to constantly check.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundationchildren ages 8 to 18 now spend, on average, 7.5 hours in front of a screen for entertainment each day. The school district wants to give high school students a break from that while they’re in school.
“I like that, I want my kids to learn when they’re here and not on their phones,” said Thomas Kratz, parent of a Smithtown student.
But not all parents agree and the school’s decision has not been without controversy. Many say they want their children to be able to communicate with them.
“I want to make sure he can call or text me in case there is an emergency,” said Kasia Wikiri, whose daughter is 11 and has a cell phone. “I don’t like not having a connection with my daughter all day.”
“Students this age have a very difficult time controlling their impulses,” said Dr. Mark Secaur, superintendent of schools. “High school is a very difficult time for students, so to free them from distractions and allow them to participate more fully in academic activities, we thought this was the best place to start.”
The district will see how the program works in middle schools and is not ruling out the possibility of expanding it to high schools.
