Most of us are guilty of getting lost in our phones and now more school districts are saying enough's enough, and are pushing phones out of the classroom.
"We're just trying to limit a major distraction piece from the learning environment," said Brad Schnautz, Superintendent, of Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD approved stricter cellphone policies at Monday night's board meeting. There are no phones in elementary schools, they're only allowed at lunch in middle schools and during lunch and passing periods in high school.
"I get why they're doing it, i get there's a lot of people scrolling on their phone and it's like you should be listening or working," said Jack Cross, Grapevine High School student.
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Cross doesn't mind the changes at face value but says students use their phones in class for school work teachers assign, but is blocked by school firewalls
"I've had teachers say, 'Oh you need to watch this YouTube video, oh it's been blocked, pull out your phones, watch it on there, put it away.' They have a pretty good level of trust in most of us," he shared.
Making sure teachers have flexibility is one concern, but parents say security is another.
Carter In The Classroom
Focusing on unique things school districts are doing to help children succeed.
Keller ISD is working on an even stricter policy, and parents have taken to social media to say that being able to track their elementary schoolers on a bike to school or reach their kids in the case of violence on campus is a priority.
Still, educators say the benefits are big.
"Eight hours while we have them, they are focused on learning, they're focused on having conversations. We really have seen a decrease in the need for a student to post on TikTok or Snapchat," said Tabitha Branum, Superintendent, Richardson Independent School District.
Richardson ISD led the way with this last year and says the data shows an increase in engagement in the classroom, they're expanding it to more schools. We've seen similar bans across the country, and besides the safety concerns, most understand why.
Jack Cross says to trust teachers to police it, most already do.
