180 DEGREES: Two metro schools say cell phone bans working wonders so far

DES MOINES, Iowa — The two schools couldn't be much different, but they saw the same things.

"You'd maybe have one out of every three kids paying attention to what the teacher was doing," remembers Hoover High School Principal Qynne Kelly.

"'I gotta get out there to check my phone in my locker!'" recalls Bergman Academy teacher Dylan Lamb. "I've got to see what's going on!"

Tired of distracted students and frustrated teachers, public Hoover High School and private Bergman Academy decided to take the same leap — banning cell phones from class this year.

Skeptics said it wouldn't work — it was just too late to un-ring this bell.

Well now hear this:

"It has been nothing but a positive for our school this year," says Sydney Gerritsen, Bergman's Director of Student Affairs.

"I mean, I go into classrooms and there's 100% engagement," Kelly says of Hoover's first quarter.

"We can kind of connect, teacher to student," says Lamb of his students, "like 'hey, how you doing?' there isn't that kind of blocker up between."

Both schools say students are more focused. Hoover brings receipts.

"Our quarter one data is outstanding," Kelly says. "Last year we were at 42% getting A's and B's. We now, after the first quarter, are at 54% of all grades being an A or B."

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Bergman was concerned with parents pushing back, but so far Gerritsen says, "We haven't heard a peep."

Hoover heard a lot from parents, just this month.

"At parent/teacher conferences I had parents, quite a few parents, say to me 'thanks for giving me my kid back," Kelly smiles.

Teachers say the move has made them better in class, too.

"We can just teach," Lamb says. "We can focus on the academics, we can focus on the content. I don't have to worry about is someone on their phone during class, during my talk? Does someone have an Airpod that I can't see? I can just focus on teaching."

If there's been any drawback, it's that hindsight makes it clear just how bad the problem had gotten.

"They've rediscovered friends," says Kelly. "They've rediscovered themselves, possibly. They've discovered that they like the real world over the virtual world. Some students, they have only been living in the virtual world since COVID. I'm not joking when I say that."

It's no surprise that these schools are taking calls from others looking to do the same thing. Again, Hoover and Bergman strike similar notes with their advice.

"Ultimately there has to be buy in from your whole school." Gerritsen says. "I think we had to get to a point where the whole staff was like 'yes, we are ready to do this, this is important.'"

"I had to make sure I had really good people in those positions who understood their role in the system," Kelly explains. "If there are places in the district that can't say yet 'We're there', I would recommend that they don't start doing it until they have the pieces in place to be successful."

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