South Carolina Board Approves Draft Rules Restricting Cellphones in K–12 Schools

Social media apps on a mobile phone screen on Jan. 3, 2018. (Yui Mok/PA)

South Carolina is a step closer to requiring K–12 students across the state to turn off and put away their cellphones and other personal electronic communications devices during the school day.

The South Carolina Board of Education on Aug. 14 unanimously approved a draft for a model policy on cellphone restrictions. The two-page proposal requires students to turn off and stash their cellphones, tablets, smartwatches, gaming consoles, and other electronic devices.

“During the school day, students are prohibited from accessing their personal electronic devices,” it reads. “Students must store their devices and device accessories in lockers, backpacks, or otherwise as directed by the school district during the school day.”

The proposed policy allows exceptions for students with legitimate medical or educational needs, for specific educational purposes, and for high schoolers who volunteer at local fire departments or other emergency units.

The vote comes six weeks after the state legislature approved a budget that instructs school districts to adopt a policy banning cellphones during the school day or risk losing funding. However, the state education board must first create a model policy.

The board is seeking more public input before finalizing the model policy, which individual districts may choose to adopt as their local policy. If they choose not to adopt the state standard, they can only set rules that are more restrictive than the state’s, not less.

School districts would have the flexibility to set rules for outside the school day, such as whether to allow devices on school bus rides or during field trips or sports events. Districts would also decide whether to ban student possession of electronic devices across school property.

“It sets the floor and not the ceiling,” South Carolina Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Matthew Ferguson said during the meeting. “Each district is going to be able to build upon that and add its local nuance and flavor.”

In a statewide survey that the state education department conducted toward the end of the past school year, thousands of teachers said phones frequently disrupted their classroom teaching and that they favored at least some restrictions.

Of the 9,738 South Carolina teachers who responded to the survey—conducted May 27 to June 7—more than 90 percent wanted students to have limited access to cellphones during class time, and 55 percent supported a full-day ban.

Just 8 percent of participants said it should be left to individual teachers to decide when the devices are allowed.

When asked about the severity of cellphone-caused disruptions, some 40 percent of respondents said they lost at least 30 minutes of their daily instructional time because of cellphone use or related distractions.

In addition, many said they had to deal with behavioral issues, cheating, and cyberbullying because of cellphone use.

While teachers welcome the cellphone restrictions, students may not be supportive. Parents also have questioned whether they would be able to reach their children in case of an emergency.

“While we certainly don’t want to ever deny a parent access to their child, at the same time, I think we have to balance these very real safety and instructional concerns that cellphones create,” State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said at a May 14 board meeting.

“I’m willing for us to be the bad guys at the state level if necessary,” she told the state school board. “Because I think this is just the No. 1 most common-sense thing we can do to start to get a hold of some of the discipline and mental health issues that our students are facing in school.”