Maryland school districts wrestle with cell phone use policies, consider legislative means

The hold that phones have on young kids and teens in America today is evident, and it's something teachers and school leaders have increasingly struggled with regulating over the years.

So much so that now, a growing number of leaders at the state and federal levels have taken action or proposed legislation to curb access to cell phones in schools.

In Maryland, the cell phone policy remains in the hands of districts and school leaders and varies from one classroom to another.

Teachers and principals are set to present information at a Carroll County Board of Education Wednesday night on student cell phone use in schools, along with recommended policy changes - including a possible ban of phones in the classrooms next year.

A study last year from Common Sense Media found that 97 percent of kids use their phones during school hours.

In Baltimore County, the expectation is that cell phones are put away and silenced during instruction time.

Similar to other districts the cell phone policy is broken down by level and gets stricter for younger students in elementary and middle school. High school students may use their devices during lunch. 

While more work needs to be done, Baltimore County Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rodgers says so far, it's proven successful.

"We purchased some devices for students that just had difficulty with seeing the phone and not using it and provided those to all of those middle schools, you know shared that with our community," Rodgers said. "So anecdotally, our data seems to be trending in the right direction - particularly around middle schools which is where we had the highest level of cell phone use that was problematic and causing a distraction"

Cindy Sexton, President of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, tells WJZ she doesn't think legislation is the answer to this cell phone issue in the classrooms.

"Legislation, I don't know that that's the answer," she said. "It really is a societal shift that we have to work on, and I don't know that we can legislate ourselves into a whole societal shift around many things in education, many things in life, right?"

Educators like Sexton are now asking families at home to step up and do more to help encourage and enforce the cell phone policies now in place at your kids' schools.