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Smartphones gripping people鈥檚 attention isn鈥檛 anything new. But following the pandemic, Kris Hagel recalls seeing a troubling rise in public school students distracted by their phones during class.

鈥淚 would walk through classrooms last year and kids have absolutely no attention to the teacher that鈥檚 presenting a lesson in front of them because they鈥檙e so engrossed in what鈥檚 going on with their cellphones,鈥� said Hagel, executive director of learning and innovation at Peninsula School District, which has 17 schools and serves about 9,000 students in the Gig Harbor area.

鈥淲e struggled for a long time on what to do,鈥� Hagel said. Then, late last school year, one high school in the district decided to try a cellphone ban. It went 鈥渟urprisingly well,鈥� according to Hagel. 鈥淲e started hearing from more and more parents who said, 鈥楬ey, we want this everywhere, we want the district to do the exact same thing.鈥欌��

So it did. 鈥淲e are not a district that says you can鈥檛 have the device anywhere in school,鈥� Hagel explained Thursday to discuss smartphone use in schools. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just saying it needs to be put away,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t should not be in classrooms.鈥�

Peninsula School District is hardly alone. Schools around the state and country are searching for a balance with their cellphone policies for students. Phones can not only cause distractions, they can also contribute to bullying and pose mental health risks, especially for kids.

鈥淛ust having that cellphone there, having that distraction there, that temptation there, is definitely not productive,鈥� said Maria De Luna, a student at Bethel Virtual Academy and a member of the Association of Washington Student Leaders. 鈥淭here are a lot of very creative ways that students have found to use their phones, regardless of the rules.鈥�

De Luna said not using a phone or eschewing social media apps when other students are using them can also be difficult. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always that like, 鈥極h, what if I鈥檓 missing out? What if they鈥檙e talking about me?鈥� There鈥檚 that anxiety and that culture that鈥檚 been created.鈥�

Meanwhile, Kelsey Parke, principal at Kopachuck Middle School in the Peninsula School District, said since the phone ban, cyberbullying at her school has dropped to 鈥渁lmost zero.鈥�

But students, educators, and researchers point out that phones can have benefits, helping people to build social connections and to access information. Plus, parents want to be able to reach their kids by phone in case of an emergency.

So there are questions over whether outright phone bans in schools are the best path.

鈥淚 think that with support, with scaffolding, with training, with regulation and with age-appropriate design, we can really maximize the benefits and minimize the negatives,鈥� said Luc铆a Magis-Weinberg, a psychology professor at the University of Washington.

Just over three-quarters of K-12 public schools nationwide prohibited non-academic cellphone use during the 2021-22 school year, according to a from January. How strictly the policies are enforced can vary.

Last year, Florida became the first state to to keep students from using phones during class. Governors and lawmakers in at least a half-dozen other states have pushed schools to go down similar paths, .

It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear how many of Washington鈥檚 public schools have cellphone restrictions.

鈥淲e know of a few who have policies limiting or banning cellphone use: Peninsula, Pasco, Kennewick, Reardon-Edwall, and Monroe,鈥� Katy Payne, a spokesperson for the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said in an email.

鈥淲e are hearing about more and more districts exploring policies,鈥� she added.

Hagel said by email that he鈥檇 received a lot of calls from districts across the state looking to implement restrictions in line with Peninsula鈥檚. He also said his district received a survey from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in late April asking about cellphone policies.

would鈥檝e directed school districts to adopt restrictions on student cellphone use by the start of the 2027-28 school year. The measure passed out of the House Education Committee with bipartisan support, then stalled.

鈥淢obile device use in our public schools has become a chronic issue and our kids are suffering because of it,鈥� Stephanie McClintock, R-Vancouver, the lead sponsor on the bill said during the session. 鈥淲e want to eliminate the distraction these devices are creating during class time.鈥�

Hagel was skeptical of the bill and of taking a statewide approach. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important that school districts make that decision on what will work best, on the timeline that works best for them,鈥� he said. He added that it鈥檚 not even certain his district will keep its ban permanently.

But for now, Hagel said, 鈥淲e needed to take a hard reset.鈥�

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