As students go back to school this month, many will make the return under new state cellphone bans — limiting student phone use during school hours.
One teacher says he is already reaping the benefits of his school’s cellphone ban and enjoying the positive impact he believes new policies are having on his students.
In nearly a decade of teaching, this is the first year his Alabama school adopted a total ban on student cellphone use, explained the history teacher, who goes by the name jonstertruck on social media and published a trilogy of sci-fi novels under the name J.W. Buchwalter.
“Today, all of my students — 100% of them — took notes in my class, did their assignment, asked for help when they got stuck and turned it in," Buchwalter said in a TikTok clip.
“And then when they were done, they talked to each other,” he continued. “Was it this easy the whole time? ... I have been pulling my hair out for, like, eight years. Has it been this easy of a solution the whole time?”
The clip, which was shared this week, has been viewed over 1.6 million times on TikTok and amassed nearly 9,000 comments from parents, students and fellow teachers.
“I’m so excited, I’m telling my students welcome to 1990!“ one commenter noted. ”Learn how to pass notes, learn how to socialize! I’m so over phones in these kids hands!”
Another wrote, “So far it’s been delightful. Kids are having conversations with their peers, they are doing their assignments, and they are looking people in the eyes in the hallway.”
As of this summer, 37 U.S. states have banned or limited student cellphone use in schools, reports Time magazine. Roughly half of those states — including Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and South Carolina — have introduced bell-to-bell ban policies, which keep students off their phones during lunch, between classes and other breaks.
Support for school cellphone bans is gradually increasing among U.S. adults, according to a study published in July, conducted by Pew Research Group.
About 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning student cellphone use in middle and high schools during class — up from 68% last fall, the study reported.
Support for banning student cellphone use during class is higher among older adults, but increasing in all age groups. Of adults under 30, about 57% support school cellphone bans while 83% of adults over 50 support bans.
In Utah, students in public schools are prohibited from “using a cellphone, smart watch, or emerging technology during classroom hours,” according to SB178, which was passed almost unanimously in April.
SB178 took effect on July 1, but the law allows individual school districts to adjust the regulations to fit their needs.