By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor

Last school year, MEA member Vanessa Wentzloff felt genuine appreciation at seeing her students pass paper notes to each other in class.

The high school science teacher first saw the behavior after her Oakland County school district — Avondale — instituted a strict new technology policy banning students’ use of cell phones and other outside devices during school instructional time.

After 10 years of teaching at the school, Wentzloff recognized it would take a while for everyone to adjust to big changes that started in the fall of 2024.

“Kids are really bad at being bored, because they’re used to whipping out their phone,” she said. “So when we first banned phones, the kids were passing each other notes, and I was like — OK, this is old-school; that’s fine.”

A small district of 3,800 students, Avondale is one case study for what others across Michigan can expect when a new state law goes into effect this fall, prohibiting use of smartphones and other wireless communication devices on school grounds during instructional time.

Now in its second year at Avondale High School, the policy has resulted in significant improvements, Wentzloff and other educators agreed. Students are more engaged in class, more social and interactive, and more willing to persevere on assignments.

Although passing and lunch times are not included in the high school ban, “I feel like the kids are less on their phones even during passing time now,” Wentzloff said. “They just don’t have it out during class, so as they’re walking out maybe they check it, but they’ll put it away.

“Even our first homecoming assembly after our phone ban was the most engaged I’ve seen students in an assembly in my entire career here.”

Life is better

The ban on devices at the district’s middle school is more strict, encompassing the entire school day. When they arrive in the morning, younger students place phones in locked Yondr pouches, which they carry with them and unlock as they leave for the day.

Life is markedly better since cell phones went away, said MEA member Kristen Little, a 28-year classroom veteran who works as a math and reading interventionist at the middle school.

“It’s really been life-changing, to be honest. It has made everything so much easier. Students are more engaged in their academics and the lessons being taught throughout the day. They’re socializing in the hallways, laughing and talking with each other. I think it has so many benefits for students.”

Nearly 40 states in the U.S. have adopted laws regulating student cell phone use in schools. Not much research exists on effects so far, but a working paper issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in October reported positive findings.

Researchers found a reduction in student unexcused absences and improvement in student test scores in the second year after cell phones were restricted in Florida schools.

Those benefits came after a short-term rise in student suspensions, especially among Black students, which dissipated after the first year, according to the NBER paper.

The middle school policy in Avondale, which started a year before the high school ban, has reduced discipline issues and cyberbullying, Superintendent James Schwarz told M-Live in January.

Incidents of fighting went from 22 in fall of 2022, before the ban, down to seven the next year when the policy began, according to the district. Phone violations decreased from 124 to 61.

“In addition, the ban has increased students’ socialization skills and ability to interact verbally with confidence,” Schwarz said.

Over nearly three decades, Little had watched middle school culture change for the worse as cell phones became ubiquitous. Students texted each other all day. Social media distracted. Peer pressure intensified. Conflicts escalated.

“It was just very intrusive of lessons and learning and student engagement,” Little said. “Snapchat was a problem, Instagram, all those social media apps caused so many issues.”

Cell phone use can have profound implications for mental health, studies have found. Constant notifications can lead to compulsive use. Social media platforms, designed to be addictive, distort self-image and feed feelings of worthlessness.

“Studies have shown a correlation between heavy social media use and depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidal ideation,” according to the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.

Now with the middle school ban in its third year, becoming the norm, students are more active in class and completing more assignments, Little said. They are more likely to talk with others outside of usual cliques, and overall mental health seems to be improved, she added.

“We can’t control what they’re doing at home, but I think there’s so much pressure for middle school students specifically from social media. When that is put away from 7:45 to 2:45, I think it lightens kids’ loads.”

No staff complaints

When Erica Burmann began teaching 13 years ago, cell phones were not a major issue. A fifth-grade teacher in the gifted and talented program, Burmann is president of the local union and says staff are not complaining about the ban.

Universal staff support is crucial to the success of any restrictive cell phone policy, Burmann stressed, adding full staff buy-in is more likely if administrative follow-through is prioritized.

In Avondale, if teachers see a student using a cell phone during class, the phone is confiscated, the office calls home, and a parent must retrieve it. Security staff members are available to come quickly and remove any student who refuses to hand over a device.

Students who leave to use the bathroom are required to put phones in a basket on the teacher’s desk, which has led to fewer and shorter exits from class.

Because devices at the high school are not locked or routinely removed from students’ possession, enforcement requires a period of consistent adult behavior for students to accept and adapt to the change, Burmann said. The benefits are worth the initial struggle, she said.

“Kids are more present and engaged. When they’re finished with a task, they’re not just jumping on a phone — they’re maybe engaged in another thinking task or something the teacher set up.”

An emerging issue is students’ use of smartwatches, which might need to be added to the list of banned devices that already includes external laptops and tablets, Burmann added.

She advises educators in Michigan who will implement new policies in coming months: “It’s going to take time. It’s going to take consistency. It’s going to take parent education, because we know parents themselves push back on cell phone policies, right?”

Recent surveys indicate growing public support for school cell phone restrictions, although parents express concern over losing contact with their child in emergencies.

Michigan’s new law requires school districts to develop protocols for how cell phones can be used in lockdowns or other threatening situations. In Avondale, middle school teachers have a go-bag for emergencies that includes scissors to open phone pouches if needed.

Students are safer in an emergency following instructions, not texting or going online, those interviewed agreed. In the case of an active shooter, lights and sounds from phones increase risk.

Mixed student feelings

Asked to write down words to describe their reactions to the policy, seniors in Wentzloff’s elective science classes gave mostly negative responses: angry, sad, bored. Questioned individually, most gave nuanced answers.

One senior admitted without her phone in one class she talked to people she would not have approached otherwise.

“They’re actually cool and funny and they keep me interested, so I don’t even think about my phone.”

Another said ultimately the ban is a “good thing” that has led to more human interaction even though students can find ways around it. “When kids are on their phone so much, it takes away from what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said.

One talkative senior said he believes he’s more involved in class but should be able to use a device when needed, while another complained he can’t effectively use free time as a dual-enrolled student.

“I have two hours here that I’m scheduled to have a study block so I can work on my college stuff, but I can’t work on my college stuff because of the personal device policy.”

MEA member Rebecca Siwicki instituted a ban on cell phones in her high school business classes before the new policy took effect. Having a school‑wide policy helps, she said.

Students in career courses receive employability grades, so she teaches them to develop the discipline to stay off phones when required — as an employer might demand at a job.

“We had to really commit as a staff that we were all in,” she said. “Because if I’m doing it and the teacher down the hall isn’t, then I’m the bad guy.”

Some teachers are more disadvantaged than others by a cell phone ban, such as those teaching photography or graphic design, and districts might need to help educators redesign lessons or purchase needed equipment, she said, adding the effort is worth it.

After a varied career in real estate and technology, Siwicki transitioned to teaching several years ago and found great rewards in guiding young people. She wants them to realize ditching the phone improves focus, fosters connection, and builds cognitive endurance.

“They think when they get online, they’re letting their mind wander,” Siwicki said. “They don’t realize they’re literally being led; their mind is on a leash. I don’t want every organic experience they have to come through a screen, and nowadays that’s a real danger.”