The Enumclaw School District is cracking down on cellphone use during class time.<\/p>\n
The district’s Board of Directors discussed updating and enforcing the rules already on the books regarding cellphone use at schools during the July 29 meeting.<\/p>\n
According to Deputy Superintendent Jill Burnes, who gave a presentation to the Board about the district’s policies, these rules have been in place since 2004.<\/p>\n
But for 20 years, enforcement has been spotty at best — ESD aims to change that, with one of the goals being improved learning in the classroom.<\/p>\n
“They say the amount of time it takes you to refocus [from a distraction], on average, is 23 minutes,” Burns said. “That’s happening in class, and you’re constantly districted? That class period is over before you can refocus.”<\/p>\n
Another goal is to reduce the “phenomenal increase in anxiety and depression” seen in students, which many believe is cause by social media use.<\/p>\n
“Lots of energy and effort in our schools is battling social media posts between kids,” Burns continued, noting studies show that more than a quarter of students between 9 and 16 report having negative online experiences that make them scared, and that one in five children stayed home from school “due to cyber bullying” in 2023.<\/p>\n
Other safety and well-bring concerns are that studies show 12% of all students between 16 and 19 encounter “extreme pornography” on their devices, Burns said; that 25% have seen extreme violence content; that 29% student ages 16 to 19 report content related to self-harm; and 45% of students 11 to 17 use “mature only” apps.<\/p>\n
Burns said multiple district in Washington have banned cellphone use in some way; various local news sources have reported these districts are seeing some immediate results.<\/p>\n
UPDATES AND ENFORCEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are the new rules, which start Sept. 13:<\/p>\n High school<\/strong><\/p>\n At Enumclaw High, devices like phones and earbuds are to be turned off in the classroom and cannot be used in classrooms, the library\/media center, common learning areas, or restrooms; exceptions include passing period and lunch.<\/p>\n During instructional time, these devices can’t be stored in a pocket, but put away into a backpack or teacher-approved storage location.<\/p>\n A first violation of these policies is a reminder.<\/p>\n A second violation results in a confiscation of the device, and a student can retrieve it at the end of the day. Refusing to give up their phone results in an automatic third violation.<\/p>\n Parents get involved at a third violation, as they will be required to come to the school office to retrieve a confiscated device.<\/p>\n A fourth violation may result in the device being banned from campus.<\/p>\n All violations will be marked on student records.<\/p>\n Middle school<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike high school, phones and earbuds are not allowed during the school day — this includes passing periods and lunch. This means student\/parent interaction must be made via the school office.<\/p>\n Additionally, devices must be stored in a locker, not a backpack.<\/p>\n Violations are the same as in high school.<\/p>\n Elementary<\/strong><\/p>\n Like the middle school rules, all cellphones, plus music playing devices and cameras, must be off during the school day.<\/p>\n Smart watches can stay on, but cannot be used for communication, recording, or games.<\/p>\n A first violation is a reminder of the rules; after a second, watch phones will need to be turned off and put in the backpack during the school day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cellphones can be used in non-instruction settings at high school, but are banned at middle schools <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":612,"featured_media":70416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,24],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-70415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home2","category-northwest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70415"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=70415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}