New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is so important during the day that they need their phones. Kids went without phones at school for decades. We all survived.

You must not have high school students. I would have said the same thing a few years ago, but my kids check their phones at the lunch break because their coaches text and message through apps during the day to tell them about practice, bus times for games, changes for weather, changes because of field scheduling issues, etc.
I personally have texted high school babysitters during the day to tell them of changes for the afternoon/evening. Communication has changed dramatically since the 1990s, and expectations of being able to get in touch have as well - for better or worse.

I agree that I don't want my teens on their phones all day and I think it's 100% appropriate to have the phones away during classes, but they should be able to check in during lunch. That's just how the world communicates now.

I guess coaches, bosses, etc. are going to have to get used to this and communicate differently as well.

Other clubs communicate during day through instagram and texting appa that are blocked/not available to access on laptops. A good change would be for HS to not push instagram as communication tool but ridiculous to say no phones when that’s how majority of clubs and activities are communicating in HS.

Coaches could just use email. The kids access school email from laptops. Problem solved. Coaches should never have been using social media and message apps to communicate with students anyway.

They don’t have time to check email on their bulky laptop during lunch. What a stupid idea. They should be allowed to check their phone for texts or email at lunch.

right and i don't want my kid checking email during classes when the laptop is out. and it's not out all the time in classes anyways. what a dumb idea.

I’d rather my kid check a quick text at lunch then not pay in class to rabidly check email all day long. We are just going to create more problems all around by not allowing students to use their phone at lunch. It’ll be a hassle for everyone.

A hassle for you maybe, but I really can't remember the last time I needed to get a hold of one of my high schoolers in the middle of the day. I have a freshman and a senior who are involved in a lot of extracurriculars but nothing has ever been so urgent that we've had to communicate a change of plans mid-day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

+1 this exactly. There are so many circumstances where my kid needs to check a quick text at lunch to solidify the after school plans. Waiting until 3 pm to be able to see it as they are rushing to the bus would not cut it.

Kids will adapt. Solidify after school plans the day before.

You’ve missed the entire point but no worries. We we all get around the rule.

The point is that you and your child are addicted to your phones and are really bad about making plans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if kid’s braces wire is bothering them, you talk in the morning before school.

“I’m going to call the orthodontist today to try to get you seen today or tomorrow. Are there any class periods that you absolutely don’t want to miss this week?”

I swear some of these parents are just too dumb to be able to plan ahead.

[Anonymous]

It is disturbing how a significant number of parents on this thread are actively encouraging their children to break the cell phone policy. Worse yet, many are admitting to modeling sneaky behaviors to help their children bypass the rules entirely. ​Instead of supporting school staff, some parents are actively teaching their children how to operate in the shadows.

​Some parents admit to buying decoy phones for their children to hand over into classroom storage devices or Yondr pouches, allowing the child to keep their actual smartphone hidden in their pocket or backpack. When phones are successfully locked away, parents often condone use of alternative digital workarounds, such as using school-issued laptops to chat via shared Google Docs during lectures.

Some parents frequently text their children during school, expecting an immediate response, despite having full awareness of the "bell-to-bell" policy. When schools implement the state-mandated "bell-to-bell" ban, parents often balk, citing safety panics, despite the fact that every school has a front office fully equipped to relay emergency messages. ​By prioritizing their own anxiety or desire for constant contact over the school’s boundaries, parents are sending a clear, toxic message: Rules don't apply to us if they are inconvenient.

​Condoning and modeling the intentional breaking of school rules and state mandates is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

​When a parent helps a child smuggle a phone into class, they teach that child to view authority figures, such as teachers and administrators, not as leaders to respect, but as adversaries to outsmart. A child raised to believe they are above basic rules will struggle significantly when transitioning to higher education or "the real world," where defying policies carries swift, real-world consequences.

Like I said, it is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

[Anonymous]

If you need to contact your child during the school day multiple times a month, that’s lack of planning on parents’ part.

No wonder schools want phones banned so badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if kid’s braces wire is bothering them, you talk in the morning before school.

“I’m going to call the orthodontist today to try to get you seen today or tomorrow. Are there any class periods that you absolutely don’t want to miss this week?”

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you need to contact your child during the school day multiple times a month, that’s lack of planning on parents’ part.

No wonder schools want phones banned so badly.

+1
Get more organized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is disturbing how a significant number of parents on this thread are actively encouraging their children to break the cell phone policy. Worse yet, many are admitting to modeling sneaky behaviors to help their children bypass the rules entirely. ​Instead of supporting school staff, some parents are actively teaching their children how to operate in the shadows.

​Some parents admit to buying decoy phones for their children to hand over into classroom storage devices or Yondr pouches, allowing the child to keep their actual smartphone hidden in their pocket or backpack. When phones are successfully locked away, parents often condone use of alternative digital workarounds, such as using school-issued laptops to chat via shared Google Docs during lectures.

Some parents frequently text their children during school, expecting an immediate response, despite having full awareness of the "bell-to-bell" policy. When schools implement the state-mandated "bell-to-bell" ban, parents often balk, citing safety panics, despite the fact that every school has a front office fully equipped to relay emergency messages. ​By prioritizing their own anxiety or desire for constant contact over the school’s boundaries, parents are sending a clear, toxic message: Rules don't apply to us if they are inconvenient.

​Condoning and modeling the intentional breaking of school rules and state mandates is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

​When a parent helps a child smuggle a phone into class, they teach that child to view authority figures, such as teachers and administrators, not as leaders to respect, but as adversaries to outsmart. A child raised to believe they are above basic rules will struggle significantly when transitioning to higher education or "the real world," where defying policies carries swift, real-world consequences.

Like I said, it is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

ONCE AGAIN, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK…IT’S JUST FOR LUNCH!

Get a grip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is disturbing how a significant number of parents on this thread are actively encouraging their children to break the cell phone policy. Worse yet, many are admitting to modeling sneaky behaviors to help their children bypass the rules entirely. ​Instead of supporting school staff, some parents are actively teaching their children how to operate in the shadows.

​Some parents admit to buying decoy phones for their children to hand over into classroom storage devices or Yondr pouches, allowing the child to keep their actual smartphone hidden in their pocket or backpack. When phones are successfully locked away, parents often condone use of alternative digital workarounds, such as using school-issued laptops to chat via shared Google Docs during lectures.

Some parents frequently text their children during school, expecting an immediate response, despite having full awareness of the "bell-to-bell" policy. When schools implement the state-mandated "bell-to-bell" ban, parents often balk, citing safety panics, despite the fact that every school has a front office fully equipped to relay emergency messages. ​By prioritizing their own anxiety or desire for constant contact over the school’s boundaries, parents are sending a clear, toxic message: Rules don't apply to us if they are inconvenient.

​Condoning and modeling the intentional breaking of school rules and state mandates is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

​When a parent helps a child smuggle a phone into class, they teach that child to view authority figures, such as teachers and administrators, not as leaders to respect, but as adversaries to outsmart. A child raised to believe they are above basic rules will struggle significantly when transitioning to higher education or "the real world," where defying policies carries swift, real-world consequences.

Like I said, it is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

ONCE AGAIN, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK…IT’S JUST FOR LUNCH!

Get a grip!

Are you also in the back, because the state law says “Bell to bell”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is disturbing how a significant number of parents on this thread are actively encouraging their children to break the cell phone policy. Worse yet, many are admitting to modeling sneaky behaviors to help their children bypass the rules entirely. ​Instead of supporting school staff, some parents are actively teaching their children how to operate in the shadows.

​Some parents admit to buying decoy phones for their children to hand over into classroom storage devices or Yondr pouches, allowing the child to keep their actual smartphone hidden in their pocket or backpack. When phones are successfully locked away, parents often condone use of alternative digital workarounds, such as using school-issued laptops to chat via shared Google Docs during lectures.

Some parents frequently text their children during school, expecting an immediate response, despite having full awareness of the "bell-to-bell" policy. When schools implement the state-mandated "bell-to-bell" ban, parents often balk, citing safety panics, despite the fact that every school has a front office fully equipped to relay emergency messages. ​By prioritizing their own anxiety or desire for constant contact over the school’s boundaries, parents are sending a clear, toxic message: Rules don't apply to us if they are inconvenient.

​Condoning and modeling the intentional breaking of school rules and state mandates is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

​When a parent helps a child smuggle a phone into class, they teach that child to view authority figures, such as teachers and administrators, not as leaders to respect, but as adversaries to outsmart. A child raised to believe they are above basic rules will struggle significantly when transitioning to higher education or "the real world," where defying policies carries swift, real-world consequences.

Like I said, it is, plain and simple, poor parenting.

ONCE AGAIN, FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK…IT’S JUST FOR LUNCH!

Get a grip!

The average high school student is not capable of switching back into focused school mode after staring at a phone screen for 30 minutes. The remainder of the class period after my lunch block is a nightmare of whining, behaviors, grumpiness, etc.

The most common use of the phone is not old school "check your text messages and put it away". It's check the alert, respond to mom's text, see a snapchat notification your friend sent from the bathroom, get sucked into writing messages back and forth for as long as friend can avoid being in class, navigate over to instagram, scroll for 15 minutes, and then put in earbuds and watch tiktok or youtube videos until the administrators shoo you out of the cafeteria. Then they come back to class (some, some detour to the bathroom to readjust their hair or hoods to try to hide the airpods they were using in the cafe before coming back) and I ask them to focus to do a task and they are detoxing from screens and they can't do it.

It isn't just getting a message from mom.

[Anonymous]

My daughter's friend this morning sent her a text (we have access to all her text messages; she's in 8th grade and this is her first year with a phone so we wanted to have some oversight especially with texting and she's well aware of us tracking her messages) this morning of a pic of the class from an angle where she captured about 50% of the class. She was probably pretending to take a selfie and instead took a pic of the class that was sitting behind her. Every single student that was in the frame of that pic was on their cell phone. Every.single.one. I have no idea what is going on in that class and why the teacher hasn't asked the kids to put their phones away, but whatever it is, it's just unacceptable. I have half a mind to send that into the principal to let her know "this is what's going on in a classroom right now," but I can't do it because my daughter was one of the students captured in that pic on her phone. Of course I'm going to chat with her about this when she gets home. But to all the parents who are on here saying their kids know how to use their phones responsibly and they're "good kids" who follow the rules, please wise up! Before today, I may have said the same thing about my daughter. But the fact is, the majority of kids (middle and high school) are insanely addicted to these phones. Most parents are oblivious to it because kids have found ways around screen time metrics. This is just the hard reality. It behooves us to try and help the schools follow the law and use our advocacy to make sure that school administrations hold to implementing this law for the betterment of the collective student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if kid’s braces wire is bothering them, you talk in the morning before school.

“I’m going to call the orthodontist today to try to get you seen today or tomorrow. Are there any class periods that you absolutely don’t want to miss this week?”

Exactly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel bad for the kids who sit alone and have no friends in their lunch period. They are the ones who now have to sit there looking around at other kids in groups.

And how exactly would staring at their phone during lunch develop their social skills? Maybe now they will look at a neighbor who is also sitting alone and figure out how to connect, develop their social skills, and improve their mental health. Screens are what got some kids into a pit of loneliness.

I applaud the district/state for trying to improve learning and connection, though I will miss being able to communicate a change in plans to my kid. Hope the main office is ready for the barrage of phone calls coming in to “please contact my kid about…”. And will they have a landline the kids can use to call home if needed? They can’t just cut parents off.

Every classroom and office has a landline in every school.

Kids will still turn their phones on immediately at the dismissal bell and see anything you’ve texted mid day, but schools also have always had procedures in place to contact kids in an urgent situation. I suspect once it is a smidgen of effort to contact kids, a lot of what seemed urgent to many of the parents will be able to wait until 3 pm.

It’s worked fine in middle schools where phones were completely restricted this year, it will work fine in high school too.

I'm a parent of a kid in another county with a ban. No the kids are not allowed to use the office phone or the classroom phones. If a parent calls the office with a message for your kid, they office policy is to EMAIL the kid. Which they will not get since they can't have their phones. It's a mess.

Clearly if there was a real emergency they would get ahold of your kid more quickly.

I applaud the school for emailing dumb sht like, “dad is going to pick you up instead of mom” or “don’t forget to walk the dog when you get home”. It can wait until 3:00 without issue.

Email can be accessed from laptops at lunch, texts can be read at 3:01.

you think laptops are out at lunch? no.

of course a true ER can get to my kid, but what about - the orthodontist can get you in at 1:30 pm to take care of that loose wire that's poking your cheek, so I will pick you up.

You go to the school and get the kid.

How is that confusing to you? Why are you pretending like that scenario is complex?

It literally states on the website that early dismissals need to be arranged ahead of time and that if you just show up icons to just prick your kid up it could take 20 minutes to actually get your kid. That wouldn’t work. And we need to hear back from our kid if it’s ok for them to miss a class. If they have a test we wouldn’t want to schedule the ortho appohtment then.

You have to arrange that with the SCHOOL, not your kid. You don't need to text your kid to arrange it with them, you have to let the school know. That does not involve texting. You are seeking validation for your flawed view.