On December 10, 2024 the Kansas State Board of Education met to take action about cell phones in classrooms in Kansas. They decided to recommend that each district does the bell-to-bell rule. The bell-to-bell rule is where students have to have their phones turned off and put away all day, including passing periods and even lunch. According to KWCH “The Kansas State Board of Education is recommending the bell-to-bell rule, and saying that phones are a big distraction that’s negatively impacting student mental health”.
The Kansas State Board of Education is not trying to tell you what you should do. They are just trying to recommend what each district should do. According to KSNT.com, “They first revealed the idea of no cell phones in classrooms in July of 2024”. The task force, consisting of teachers, students, administration, and other education representatives. They all overwhelmingly voted in favor of banning phones from classrooms. Yet, no actions have been taken.
The Kansas State Board also has been actively addressing student screen time. They established the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time to provide recommendations on the use of devices in school. Currently, there are no state mandated screen time limits in Kansas. Yet KASB said, “The Kansas Board has been encouraging teachers to provide students with regular breaks from screen time throughout the day”. The board is trying to address concerns about excessive screen time among students, to balance the benefits of technology with the need for face-to-face interactions.
At Garden Plain High School, it is the teachers decision in the classroom about what students should do with their phones. Some teachers have students keep them put up in their bags, have phone pouches for students to put them in, or don’t have any rules. Mrs. Brack is a teacher at Garden Plain High School who taught previously at Garden Plain Middle School last year where they have a zero phone policy. Mrs. Brack keeps a phone pouch for her students to use in class. She stated, “I allow my Yearbook class to have their phones and it is very noticeable how much time they spend on them.” She also said, “It’s noticeable that if students have their phones on them how incapable they are of not being on them”. Mrs. Brack believes that phones should not be allowed in classes, but allowed during lunch and passing periods.
In my opinion I believe that phones should not be allowed in class and that every teacher should use a phone pouch, but phones should be allowed during passing periods and at lunch. Yet, some may argue that students use fake phones, or just put their phone cases. Every class I’ve been in where we use the phone pouches there hasn’t been any problems, and most students put their phones up and are honest. With putting your phones away in class you are less distracted and get to socialize more with your classmates more.
I believe that if Garden Plain High School were to do the bell-to-bell rule it wouldn’t work. Many kids would find a way to outsmart it and would still get on their phones. Many students might need to contact a parent or have something they may need to answer on their phone. With allowing them to have them during lunch and passing periods they can then do what they may need to during those times.
I think that the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time looking into the screen time of students is going to be beneficial. Many students spend so much time on electronics. Most assignments that students get are online, leaving some kids to spend up to 6 hours a day. I believe teachers should work to give students less online assignments and more in-person face-to-face assignments. The less screen time students are on assignments the better it can be for students. The board also talked about implementing a screen time limit. I think if we did have a screen time limit it would be beneficial for students yet hard for students to complete assignments. If the time limit was to go off during an assignment they wouldn’t be able to finish. They also would have to work around it during school. Therefore, teachers should start giving more in person assignments.
In conclusion, the Kansas State Board of Education should start looking more into screen time limits, and encouraging teachers to do more face-to-face assignments. They should also leave it up to districts about what they think would work best for phones in their districts. Not every district is the same therefore they shouldn’t be treated the same. I believe that Garden Plain High School has a good system set up. Yet, teachers should be looking more into screen time limits.
