Tough cell: Washington Legislature considers bill to restrict phone use in schools, but students say current restrictions often aren't enforced

Jan. 27—OLYMPIA — While Mt. Spokane senior Eric Agius sits in class, listening to instruction from his teacher, he notices many of his peers scrolling away on their devices.

"Oftentimes they're playing video games, checking social media, listening to music while a teacher is talking," Agius said. "Typically, I'll see a lot of kids my age on their phones, not even paying attention."

Despite a districtwide policy in Mead School District prohibiting cellphone use in class, staff rarely enforce the rule, as is the story in many Spokane-area schools.

Districts have long been in conversation strategizing how to shift students' attention from their cellphones back to their studies. Now, the Legislature is chiming in. On Tuesday, a House of Representatives committee heard public testimony on a bill that would mandate districts to implement cellphone restrictions by the 2027-28 school year. The bill also directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to select schools as two-year pilot sites to test cellphone restrictions.

The proposal has bipartisan support.

Rep. Stephanie McClintock, R-Vancouver, introduced the bill, inspired by woes with her own children and their devices.

"Most students openly admit that their cellphones distract them, and then they focus better in school without them," McClintock said. "Data unequivocally shows that restrictions see improved academic performance and less bullying, which is improving mental health."

Supporters hope by enforcing cellphone restrictions, students will pay more undivided attention to their studies and increase state test scores. Last spring, over 50% of students met state testing standards in English, 39% in math and almost 43% in science, according to state data.

The 740-student Reardan-Edwall School District last year implemented a district-wide policy against phones, tablets or smart watches in classrooms. High schoolers are permitted to use their phones during lunchtime and mid-morning break.

It's too early to see the academic effects, Superintendent Eric Sobotta said.

Speaking in support of the bill at the committee hearing, Sobotta said anecdotally, reaction to the phone restriction has been positive.

"The kids are more engaged with each other and more engaged with the staff. They're more engaged with their learning in the classrooms," Sobotta said. "Middle school students actually have to talk to each other at lunch rather than on their phones playing games, and students say 'Hi' to me now when I see them in the hall."

Sobotta's one suggestion for the bill is the timeline: "months, not years," he said of the bill's requirement for districts to adopt restrictions by 2027.

Current cellphone policies at Spokane-area schools restrict cellphone use, but students say they're rarely enforced and it looks different in each classroom.

At Mt. Spokane, the student handbook "strongly discourages" students from bringing phones to school. Phone use is limited to lunchtime and before and after school, otherwise keeping them off and out of sight, unless directed by a teacher.

It's enforced by few, Agius said.

Agius said he uses his phone throughout the day to plan runs with his cross country teammates, text peers with homework questions and, previously, to check social media, which he has since deleted because he said he was wasting a lot of time on it.

At past board meetings in Spokane Public Schools, members have mused over a more restrictive cellphone policy and the effects cellphone use has on students' attention spans and the devices pulling attention away from their studies or teacher.

The district's policy directs students to keep phones off and out of sight, only to be used before and after school and during lunchtime.

"I feel like in the world of public education, it's something we're trying to catch up with," said school board president Nikki Otero Lockwood.

Agius said he sometimes uses the calculator on his phone for math assignments when allowed by his teacher, though never during assessments.

All students in Mead and Spokane School Districts receive a school-issued Chromebook that can serve many of the functions of a cellphone, ideally without the distractions, Lockwood said.

"Because kids now have the laptops, there potentially isn't as much of a need for cellphones to be used in real time to look up information," Lockwood said, adding that phone access raises equity concerns for students without phones or reception to use them in school. Chromebooks level that playing field.

Lewis and Clark High School junior Olive Pete said she sees many of her peers scroll on TikTok or Snapchat in class. She used to be the same, but more rigorous instruction material requires her full attention, so her phone stays in her backpack.

"You can't be giving two activities, or more, 100% of your focus," Pete said.

She said the district's overarching policy isn't strictly enforced, and each teacher has their own strategies to keep kids off their phones. One teacher had "phone quizzes," where he would add a question to the assessment each time he caught a student on their phone at class.

"It's kind of hard for one teacher to have control," she said. "I just feel like I've noticed one teacher can't hold that authority over many people. Students still don't listen if we have a no-phone policy."

Cellphone use in class communicates a disrespect towards teachers and school, Pete said, and as they age, students need to start taking responsibility for their education and phone use.

"Not only is it really unfortunate for their education," Pete said, "it's a privilege in Spokane Public Schools to have that free education, and I feel like it's kind of disrespectful to that."

Watching his peers succumb to doom-scrolling on their phones, Agius thinks schools should spend more time educating on how to use a cellphone healthily — how to take advantage of the benefits of limitless information in your back pocket .

"If they could teach effective use of that convenience in a way that doesn't negatively affect their health, that would be fantastic," Agius said. "I think that would solve a lot of problems."

Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.