North Country schools report success with cellphone ban

A full academic year without cellphones in North Country classrooms has ended, and district leaders say the policy is working.

“Overall, our students, our parents, our staff have done well with the ban on cell phones or electronic devices,” said Troy Decker, superintendent of Indian River Central School District.

Decker noted that students are now interacting during lessons instead of being distracted by their devices. “They’re not paying attention to that buzz in the pocket or the purse. They’re focused on what’s going on in the class,” he said.

Travis Hoover, superintendent of the LaFargeville Central School District, reported similar results. “It allows the teachers to teach, right? They don’t have to have that discipline of ‘put your phone away, put your phone away, put your phone away,’” Hoover said.

The state-mandated ban also had positive effects outside the classroom, according to Hoover. He said administrators prepared games and talking points for students at the start of the year, but “we ended up not needing to do it because our kids, they just started engaging with each other and it worked really, really well.”

Decker said Indian River saw increased student participation in clubs and athletics over the past year. Even students acknowledged benefits, he said: “While students would love to have those devices back at their whim all the time, many students also report that they appreciate the opportunity … to interact in the ways that they did this year.”

Both superintendents said breaking the phone habit was difficult, but they are optimistic about continuing the policy.

Originally reported by WCAX.

Photo: National Gallery of Art via Unsplash. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.