(Tim Robberts/Getty Images)
When a school district in southwest Washington began a cellphone ban this year, superintendent Asha Riley said teachers and administrators saw positive results right away.
Students were talking more to each other in class, she said. One math teacher noted they were solving problems collaboratively, instead of plugging them into calculators on their phones. Woodland Public Schools staff even overheard kids telling parents to stop distracting them with texts during class.
Riley said her students are reluctant to say the policy has had positive impacts — but one student admitted to Riley that she was “actually kind of glad” the school banned phone use. Other students used to film people in the hallways, leading kids to hide their faces in their sweatshirt or jacket hoods. The student told Riley that now, she won’t have to wear her hood up anymore.
“I actually walked our campus this week, and I did notice: fewer kids have their hoods up,” Riley said.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released guidance in late August recommending that schools update their cellphone policies to limit use by the start of the 2025-26 school year amid a wave of research on the harmful effects of smartphones and social media .