ST LOUIS: American teenagers spend upwards of eight hours a day on their phones. Local schools want to make sure none of that time is spent during class.

Several St Louis-area school districts have started banning all or most cellphone use after previous policies and student codes failed to stop in-class screen scrolling. Punishments for violating these new rules range from verbal warnings to out-of-school suspensions.

“I don’t think people realise the severity of the level of distraction,” Rogers Middle School Principal Kevin Griffin said.

This year, Rogers Middle School in the Affton School District will prohibit students from using their phones for the entire school day.

Ladue Middle School will also no longer allow cellphones after the Ladue School District’s high school did the same two years ago and saw positive results.

In St Louis city, Gateway Middle School will adopt a zero-tolerance cellphone, headphones and earbuds policy that bars students from accessing social media on campus. Students must place their phone “in a carrier” at the beginning of the school day or face varying punishments based on their number of violations, with the fifth infraction resulting in a suspension.

At Liberty High School in Wentzville, administrators will give after-school detention for cellphone offences to “address behavioural concerns and promote responsible student conduct.”

“We all agree that cell phones have become part of the fabric of our society and culture,” a letter to Liberty High School parents reads. “However ... we have heard from many parents, teachers and students about their concerns regarding how cell phones have become a distraction during the school day.”

At least one school has gone as far as to say it doesn’t want students to use social media at all.

In addition to prohibiting cell phones and headphones for grades nine through 12 this year, the private Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School, or MICDS, has revised its handbook to say administrators consider social media “inappropriate” for grades K-8 and the school “expects” K-8 students to have zero social media accounts.

Administrators recognise it’s up to a parent or guardian to decide when their child signs up for social media, especially when doing so may isolate their child from their peers, spokesperson Amy Zlatic wrote in an email to the Post-Dispatch.

“At the same time, it is our position that Lower and Middle School student use of social media is potentially unhealthy at both the individual and community levels,” Zlatic wrote. “Accordingly, MICDS parents and students can expect that we will represent this position consistently.”

The Parkway School District in western St. Louis County will conduct an internal study of various approaches to cellphone use in school this year. Results from that research could lead to changes in cellphone policy, according to a spokesperson.

Growing problem

Crackdowns on smartphones come as American teens and pre-teens are more digitally connected than ever.

Media use among these age groups has grown faster since the start of the pandemic, a 2021 study by Common Sense Media found. On average, 8- to 12-year-olds spend about five and a half hours staring at screens per day, while 13- to 18-year-olds can spend over 60 hours a week.

Research suggests this much use has led to surges in childhood loneliness, attention disorders, sleep issues and social isolation.

Their use also hinders learning, school administrators say. Most schools reported implementing stricter practices at the request of teachers who spent sizable chunks of their time telling students to put their phones away - or struggled to get them to fully engage.

In June, 45 schools and school districts in the St Louis area released an open statement to parents and guardians, asking them to limit their children’s time on smartphones and social media.

“It is our hope that, by taking a collective stand on behalf of children across all out institutions, we will embolden individual families to act collectively in turn,” the statement reads.

Schools with stricter rules on cellphone use have reported improved student focus and behaviour.

Rogers Middle in Affton saw achievement scores increase in all three grade levels last year after administrators restricted student cellphone use to lunchtime.

Griffin said it’s too soon to determine if the higher scores had something to do with the policy, “but I can tell you, the kids were more engaged; the teachers much happier.”

This year, Rogers Middle will take it a step further and not allow cellphones even during lunch.

“We decided we don’t need to be using phones during lunch either so we can focus on social skills,” Assistant Principal Jane Baumgartner said.

Phones locked away

Some school districts are using new tools, such as Yondr pouches, to lock down phones during class time. The pouches are small, magnetised bags that can only be opened using a special device.

Riverview Gardens School District began using them at its high school and two middle schools last school year and saw increased student engagement, both during class and with their peers during lunch or passing periods, according to Superintendent Tanya Patton.

“Without being glued to their phones, students were talking and interacting more with each other,” Patton said.

Riverview is one of at least three school districts in St. Louis County using Yondr pouches, which are widely considered a pricey yet effective way to limit phone use. Riverview paid about US$25,000 for 1,300 pouches in 2023.

So far, without easy access to social media, Patton said fights have decreased.

“Many of the fights and physical altercations that have occurred over the past two years, since students returned from Covid, were centered around social media,” Patton said. “Incidents related to social media were the cause of many disruptions in the classroom.”

Instead of Yondr pouches, Ladue Horton Watkins High School put plastic pouches in each classroom that students slip their phones into at the start of each period.

Principal Brad Griffith said he expected backlash from parents. But he said the overall response has been positive.

“We thought we were going to have World War III,” Griffith said. “It ended up being a pretty big win.”

 - TNS