When Marshall County middle and high school students returned to school on August 7, they were immediately required to lock away their cell phones for the duration of the school day. The North Mississippi School District updated its cell phone policy for this school year so that cell phones are not allowed in the middle and high schools during class time.
This could be a preview of the kind of cell phone restrictions that state politicians plan to impose in all Mississippi public schools in the next legislative session.
“We just want to get our kids back into school life. Not only do we want them to be engaged in class, but we want them to be able to talk to each other instead of sitting with their heads down staring at their phones all day,” Marshall County School Superintendent Carrie Skelton told the Mississippi Free Press on July 26.
The district has implemented the Yondr system, which requires each student to keep their phone in an assigned bag that is locked upon entering school. Bags remain in the student’s possession throughout the day and can be opened by students at special stations after school. In the event of an emergency, students can go to the school office or designated school officials to have the bag opened. Students are responsible for taking the bag to and from school each day and keeping it in good condition.
“We don’t confiscate their phones because that would be like taking away their arm or something,” Skelton said. “They still have the phone, they just can’t use it.”
Violations still have consequences. If a student has their phone with them and it is not in the Yondr bag, it will be confiscated and parents will have to pick it up from school during class time. Repeat violations will result in the student being expelled from school. Repeat offenders will be brought before a disciplinary committee.
“We hope it never gets to that point, because from my research in various school districts, I learned that kids were initially against it, but then realized it’s not such a bad thing and that they have lives outside of their cell phones,” Skelton said.
Nearly all U.S. teenagers ages 12 to 17 have access to a smartphone. Teachers and school officials across the country say the phones are causing problems in the classroom. The Pew Research Center surveyed K-12 public teachers in the fall of 2023 and found that 72% of high school teachers, a third of middle school teachers and 6% of elementary school teachers cited cell phones as a major distraction for students.
According to a Pew survey, 82 percent of teachers surveyed said their schools had policies on cell phone use in school. However, six in 10 high school teachers surveyed said they were difficult to enforce. Skelton agreed.
“We had a zero cell phone rule in school. We had a rule that cell phones were only allowed in certain school zones,” Skelton said. “But enforcing that was a huge effort and took so much time that the classroom and the school administration couldn’t do their jobs.”
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann praised Marshall County Schools for its initiative to lock away cell phones in a July 9 Facebook post. He said the Legislature will address the issue of cell phones in schools during its next session next year.
“Forward-thinking move by Marshall County Schools! Research shows that students who focus on learning are more likely to be physically and mentally healthy, attend class, and succeed in the future,” Hosemann said in the post. “In the 2025 session, we will advocate for statewide cell phone restrictions in our public school classrooms.”
Skelton said she couldn’t even provide the school board with accurate data on cell phone violations last school year because district officials were so overwhelmed with enforcing the rules.
“Honestly, it got to the point where I don’t even think my administrators were actually keeping accurate data because it had become such a big problem,” she said. “My principals and the teachers I’ve talked to about it are very excited. They all feel like we’re giving them back the power to control what happens in their classroom.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report included a study that found that it can take up to 20 minutes for students to refocus on what they are learning after a distraction. Another study found that removing smartphones from schools in Belgium, Spain and the United States improved learning outcomes – especially among students who were not performing as well as their peers.
Skelton believes that eliminating phone use during the day will lead to better outcomes for students in Marshall County. The district received a “C” rating on the Statewide Accountability System for the 2022-23 school year because fewer than 31% of the district’s students scored “Proficient” or “Advanced” on the statewide MAAP English or math tests. Fewer than 40% of students met performance benchmarks on the ACT.
Marshall County is the first county in the state to implement the Yondr system, paying approximately $53,000 for it.
However, in times of school shootings, cell phones have proven to be a life-saving tool for some students, leading to resistance from parents and others across the country to bans on cell phones in schools.
“If we achieve the expected results of students being able to focus on their classes again, regaining their social interaction skills and improving their mental health, $53,000 is nothing compared to what we can give these children,” Skelton said.
Skelton said one of the biggest concerns she’s heard is that students won’t be able to use their phones in the event of a school emergency. She reiterates to families that the district has a crisis management plan and campus police.
“I hope people trust us to do this,” she said. “We want to make their lives easier, not penalize them for being able to use their phone to check Snapchat or other platforms they use during class or during their school day.”
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