Cellphones in School? Survey Results Are In!
Parents and teachers spoke to us about their concerns regarding cellphones in school. Among those concerns included:
- students being distracted by their cellphones during class
- teachers are needing to spend class time collecting and returning phones
- the possible loss of phones and who’s liable for the loss.
These concerns and more prompted us to distribute a survey to learn more about these concerns and thoughts on potential solutions.
The survey was distributed to the Parents for Public Schools Hawai‘i membership and also included in the October 16th Ho‘oha‘aheo Newsletter.
A total of 538 individuals responded. Among that total included 42 administrators, 310 teachers, 310 parents, (some teachers and administrators are parents), and 13 students. These responses came from all school levels — 221 from elementary, 223 from middle/intermediate, and 262 from high school teachers, parents and administrators. (Some parents have students in more than one level.)
Just highlighting a couple of the survey points here:
Support of some form of a cellphone ban in schools:
- 76.4% want some kind of ban – including collecting phones in class, using software to block usage during class, or using a device such as a pouch to contain phones during class.
- 10.1% are not sure.
- Only 13.6% do not want a ban of some sort.
Of the options presented in the survey:
- 26.4% favored use of a Yondr pouch – each student would have a pouch with a magnetic closure. When entering class, their pouches would be closed with the magnetic device, on exiting the pouch opening would be released. We know at least one school is piloting this solution now.
- 23.9% favored having teachers collect phones during class.
- 16.9% favored using a blocking app.
- 14.2% favored teacher just telling students not to use phones during class.
- 13.7% were not sure.
Click on the following link to see the survey’s full results:
2024 Cellphones in School Survey Results