After returning to in-person classes post-pandemic, we noticed that students—especially our middle school students—were very distracted by mobile devices during the school day. They weren't just distracted during classroom time, but also during breaks and lunch. Students were more engaged with their devices than they were with one another.

Like many districts, we had heard from our teachers, staff members and administrators that devices were becoming a behavior issue as well. This was true even at the elementary level with smartwatches. Students were talking to parents, family members or friends during the school day, and that was creating some issues.

In the second half of the 2023-24 school year, we took a deep dive into what solutions were out there and what other school districts in the area were doing. A neighboring district, Folsom-Cordova Unified, had implemented a mobile device ban for their middle schools that school year. Our team did some site visits, and the administrators noticed something so refreshing—that kids were actually talking to one another and playing games during breaks because they weren't attached to their devices.

So we decided to explore a possible device ban more seriously. After further research, we made the decision to go forward with the ban and announce it at the end of the school year so that families had all summer to prepare and ask questions.

I think the key was giving everyone months of time to prepare, ask questions, understand and have their concerns heard. We passed the policy in May, shared it internally and externally later that month, and then shared it again in July and early August. We crafted messaging from the district, site and classroom levels. We had posters around campus and resources online, so everyone was very prepared for what was to come.

We quickly learned what questions to anticipate. Families always wanted to know what the disciplinary policy would be if students did have personal devices, so we built a really clear step-by-step ladder of consequences. But to start, it was just about reminding the students that they were not allowed to have their devices. If needed, we would loop in their families so that everyone was clear on the expectations.

We also wanted to make sure that our policy was crystal clear about every kind of device. At first, we didn't specifically call out devices like smartwatches and wireless earbuds in our communications. After talking to families, though, we added those in all future communications to emphasize that the policy prohibits all mobile devices. We also specified that our ban is bell-to-bell, so there's no devices out at lunch or other common times.

So far, we have seen a lot of positive changes. The main takeaway is—have detailed conversations with your community early on so that their questions are answered ahead of time.

Even though we've just started, the response to our new policy has been incredible. Anecdotally, I've heard from teachers and other staff that children are engaging more with one another and that students honestly seem happier. And while we don't have a ton of hard data since it's still so early in the school year, we're seeing some early signs that not having personal devices in school is positively impacting student behavior. For example, at this same time last year, we had over 70 behavior referrals in one of our middle schools. This year, at the same school, we've had fewer than 10. What an enormous difference that makes! How much more learning is happening? How much more fun is being had?

Something that we're quickly learning is that when students aren't distracted by their devices, they need other types of programming to pass the time. Even though we're only at the beginning of the school year, we've already added more structured activities to lunch so that kids have games they can engage in with their friends. My honest hope is that this becomes the norm again for student life—students coming to school to focus on learning and making connections with friends and classmates. After all, these are the reasons we have school.

As we're getting into the school year, many families have reported that it hasn't been as hard as they thought it would be, and I feel the same way. When we researched this policy change, I was so prepared for all of the negative things that could happen, but so far, it's really been fine. I thought it would take until the holidays for this to feel normal, but it already does, less than a month into the school year. I honestly anticipate we'll only have more and more positive results from this decision.