McHenry County school districts take harder stance on cellphones in classrooms

With more research coming out and more concerns in education circles, conversations started last spring about how Crystal Lake’s high schools should address teen cellphone use, Superintendent Neil Lesinski said.

That discussion led to a letter to parents on Aug. 9, reiterating Community High School District 155′s cellphone policy that requires students to keep their phones off while in class.

“This year, District 155 will be strictly enforcing its cell phone policy which states that ‘all electronic devices must be kept powered-off and out-of-sight during the regular school day unless the supervising teacher grants permission,’” according to that letter from Lesinski.

At McHenry High School District 156, parents and students got a heads up on Tuesday – the day before classes started – that the district planned to take a hardline on cellphones in classrooms this year by fully enforcing its existing policy, Principal Jeff Prickett said.

“It is not a new policy; we already had it. It has been in the handbook all along,” Prickett said. “So many school districts have talked about extreme bans, or tweaks in existing policies. It has helped us that we have always had this language in the policy. We can always go to it.”

What has changed, Prickett said, is how seriously McHenry County schools and others across the country are taking the negative affects cellphones can have on students.

Restrictions on cellphone use in schools have increased in the past year nationally, as some educators see them as distractions to learning and studies indicate the negative impact of social media on youth as phone use rises. In the past year, 10 states including Indiana have passed legislation regarding cellphones in the classroom. Other states banning cellphones in the classroom include Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, while Alabama strongly encourages every school district to set a policy.

In a recent study, 77% of schools in the U.S. say they restrict cellphones outside of academic use, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Phones and anxiety, depression in teens

The book “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt also blames cellphone use on an increase in mental health changes in youth, Prickett said.

Parent Kim Wilson of Crystal Lake is also a mental health therapist.

“I see how the use of cellphones is affecting the learning environment but also the teenage brain, causing more anxiety and depression,” Wilson said.

Lesinski said his district is aware of the recent studies about the potential negative effects of cellphone use by youth, largely due to social media.

“What we are learning is that excessive use of social media has been linked to negative mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Factors contributing to these issues include cyberbullying, unrealistic body image comparisons, sleep disturbances, and addiction-like behaviors,” Lesinski wrote in his letter to parents.

It isn’t even a necessarily conscious decision to pull out a cellphone to check notifications and posts, but a habit. The apps are designed to keep users on their devices, he said.

“Social media and advertisers on social media are using the algorithm to target teenagers and keep adolescents in an addiction loop,” Lesinski said. “They want to sell them something and keep them on the platform.”

There is also the potential for phones to cause distractions in class and fuel conflict between students, he said.

District 155 is not at the spot where it seeks to ban cellphones in the school altogether.

Red zones and wall pockets

“We feel like our students are mature enough to understand ... we are not trying to punish them” by asking them to simply put their cellphones away, Lesinski said.

The two McHenry high schools limit phone use by separating the buildings into “red” and “green” zones. Any area where instruction is happening is a red zone where “electronic devices should be silenced and out of sight,” according to the student handbook. Devices may be used only if permitted by a teacher or staff member in that room.

In green zones, students “are free to use electronic devices under the principles of digital citizenship.” Those include hallways during passing periods, lunch and common rooms (with earbuds for audio), and before or after school, according to the handbook.

Discipline for violating the rules ranges from a warning and a call to parents on the first offense to the loss of privileges for the semester and social probation for the fifth offense.

What the rules not do is stop students from contacting parents or anyone else in an emergency. That was one concern for Crystal Lake parent Veronica Vaughn.

“Until the country can guarantee the safety of children in classrooms, I want to ability for my children to be able to contact me in the need of an emergency,” Vaughn said.

Students at District 155 can have their phones on them, Lesinski said. They just have to be put away and silenced.

Teachers at McHenry’s high schools are encouraged to have students put their cellphones in a pocket wall chart. The district piloted that approach during summer school, asking students to place their phones and headphones in the pocket during class. Prickett said that the school is not mandating teachers use the system, but it does seem to be working.

Reasonable limits

Both school officials noted that yes, their students all have tablet computers with them all day too. The difference between their tablets and their cellphones is the tablets are connected to the school’s WiFi signal, which prohibits access to some social media sites.

With a cellphone and unlimited data, the school can’t regulate which sites students access.

There are positive aspects to social media “like building communities and developing digital literacy too,” Lesinski said, adding the goal is to help students make informed choices.

District 155 is offering parents and students a presentation on the use of technology, and its cellphone policy, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Crystal Lake Central High School.

“The approach is helping students know to learn and grow” as they understand why the phones should be out of sight, Lesinski said. “That is going to be our attempt as we enter the school year.”

Shaw Local News Network’s Derek Barichello contributed.