MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – Governor Glen Youngkin issued an executive order this month to establish cell-phone-free education, but Montgomery County Public Schools were already one step ahead.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, cell phone use in schools has been a continuous problem in Montgomery County schools, but now leaders believe they have found a solution with their new cell phone policy.
[RELATED: New cell phone policies in local school systems]
To learn about the new policy, I went down to the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Office to talk to the superintendent.
“Basically, it is your cellphones are going to be away, turned off, in your pocket or in your locker and not accessible during the instructional school day,” said Dr. Bernard Bragen.
The school division said it did a test of the policy at Christiansburg Middle School and the results were positive.
“One of the things they noticed was lunchtime at the middle schools now became noisy again because children were interacting and talking with each other,” Bragen said.
I then met with a teacher from Christiansburg Middle School and he said he’s never been a fan of cell phones in classrooms.
“We know the research shows that young people are happier when they are off their devices, and we heard that from kids,” said Joseph Caldwell. “They were having conversations with each other. They were talking about things they weren’t experiencing before because they were so disconnected from each other.”
For the students and parents, there are some that are mostly okay with the policy.
“I don’t know, kids’ attention spans these days are kind of getting out of hand,” said Colten Jones, an incoming freshman. “I think just having your eyes on the teacher and the topic will definitely help.”
“I’m in agreement with the new policy, except maybe a loophole for the upperclassman,” said Mary Anne Hecht, a mom with kids in the school system. “You’re more independent then and you have your own schedule.”
For some others though, they think the new policy goes too far.
“I think once you start to get your license or get a life going, you should be allowed to be on your phone because you have stuff to do outside of school and you have to figure out plans,” said Waylon Helms, a senior at Auburn High School.
For more information on the policy, you can find it here.