Why some Minnesota schools are restricting cellphone usage for students
ST. PAUL, Minn. — If you have a child, you know the dilemma: Should your child have a cellphone and should they have it while in school?
For many districts, a new year means new rules.
"What we are asking for is that kids have their phones out of sight during classroom instructional time, they can have them out during passing time or lunch," said Laura Ramsborg, an assistant principal at Highland Park High School.
After ten years in corporate America, Ramsborg decided to go into education. She has a big heart for teens.
"I think people don't know how amazing there are a lot of bad stereotypes out there but what blows my mind every day, their kindness, their commitment, their passion for the different interests they have," Ramsborg said.
She's now an administrator at Highland Park Senior High and she thinks her beloved teens deserve to learn all the lessons including when to put their phones away. Her school is doing limited phone use, but in St. Paul, it's a school-by-school decision. They'll have a district policy by spring.
In Minneapolis, it's limited use for older kids. In Edina, phones must be out of view. In Minnetonka, they must be out of view during teaching. Woodbury has limited use for high schoolers. Maple Grove Middle School allows them for limited times in the day.
Maple Grove is one year into restricting phones.
"We instantly noticed that it was a game changer, the culture, the climate of our students was happy," Maple Grove Middle School principal Patrick Smith told lawmakers in the spring. "They weren't looking at their phones in the hallway or at lunchtime, they were talking to each other. They were enjoying the time to have a face-to-face conversation."
There's science behind the rules too, as an Allina Health pediatric psychologist explains the power of distraction.
"We have a limited amount of mental energy, just like we have a limited amount of physical energy. Say I am carrying a 50-pound weight and someone says, 'Can you carry this other weight?' It's going to be hard because my muscles are carrying a lot of weight. Our minds are also like that. There's only a certain amount of things we can pay attention to," Dr. David Nathan said.
There will be more guidelines soon.
A new Minnesota state law requires a school district or charter school to adopt a policy on students' possession and use of cell phones in school by March 2025.