Cells in Schools: Educators, families talk policy in Johnson County

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) - A town hall held Tuesday brought together educators, parents, and students to discuss new cell phone policies across Johnson County school districts. The event was put on by the Johnson County Post.

Dozens gathered at the Central Resource Library in Overland Park to hear from two panels: the first consisting of teachers, parents, and one of the co-founders of the Phone-Free Schools Movement.

“I decided day 1 to put up a cell phone caddy if you will on the back of a door of a closet that I have,” said Jill Johnson, the Shawnee Mission KNEA president and a Shawnee Mission East High School teacher. “They each have a number, and they put their cell phones in there for the duration of class. When it’s over, they take them back. It has worked well for me. Many staff have appreciated the fact that there is now a policy to look to and subsequent consequences for students that do not comply.”

The second panel had high school students and the director of the Johnson County Mental Health Center.

“At Shawnee Mission East, we got it this semester,” said Anvi Bansal, a sophomore. “We haven’t had it for very long, but in most of my classes, I put my phone in the phone caddy and I do think that’s a really effective way to deal with the problem. Before it, people were definitely on their phones during each class, during free time, even during instruction. It was rude to the teachers and ourselves. Me and my classmates were talking about it and we think that we actually have been focusing a lot better and have been getting more stuff done in class.”

New policies have been implemented across all the school districts in Johnson County, the latest being the Shawnee Mission School District earlier this year. Overall, many agree they are working.

“I would say overall in my school, and I think my colleagues in other schools, have found it to be a very successful policy,” said Don Branham, a teacher at California Trail Middle School in Olathe. “We’ve had great cooperation from our kids. We’ve had almost no issues during lunch with students using their phone. In the classroom, I don’t have an exact number but maybe I’ve had to ask kids to turn over their cell phones maybe 10 or 12 times this year.”

Some argued the policies could be stricter. Kim Whitman is a parent and co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement advocates for a ‘bell-to-bell’ policy.

“Where the phones, AirPods, smart watches, all devices are locked away for the day, the whole entire day,” said Whitman. “The policies in Johnson County aren’t locked away. There’s no storage tool and at the high school level they’re not bell-to-bell. They can use the phones during passing periods, during lunch, so we consider that a weak policy. A strong policy would be bell-to-bell in order to get the best results. In order to take it off the teachers’ plates.”

Audience members were also able to ask questions, state their thoughts on cell phone policies, and more. The Johnson County Post stated it put together the town hall so different viewpoints could be shared as this continues to be a big topic of discussion.

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