Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
In response to an executive order issued over the summer by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Salem City Public Schools communicated its communication device procedures in advance of the start of the 2024-25 academic year. In the weeks since school started, division officials report that students and their families are largely supportive of the policy.
“As we gain a deeper understanding of the negative impacts that cell phones and social media can have on students, we are compelled to rethink and change how students interact with these devices during school hours. Early feedback suggests that students and families are largely supportive of our efforts to limit cell phone use at school. While there have been a few instances of noncompliance, most students are meeting our expectations,” Curts Hicks, superintendent, said.
The policy stipulates that devices must be “off and away” during the school day for students in PreK-8 and “off and away” during class for high school students.
Unlike elementary and middle school students, high school students are allowed to use their devices before and after school, between classes and during lunch. Elementary school students are expected to keep their devices in their cubbies, middle school students are expected to keep them in their lockers and high school students are expected to keep them in the caddie during class. Importantly, students who use devices to monitor their medical conditions are allowed to keep their devices with them after providing documentation from a physician.
In his order, Youngkin noted, “The necessity of implementing cell phone-free education in Virginia’s K-12 public schools is increasingly evident. Parents, public health professionals, educators, and other stakeholders across the commonwealth are expressing concern over the alarming mental health crisis and chronic health conditions affecting adolescents, such as depression and anxiety, driven in part by extensive social media usage and widespread cell phone possession among children. Cell phone-free education will significantly reduce the amount of time students can be on phones without parental supervision.”
The Virginia Department of Education recently released draft guidelines outlining what it means to provide a cellphone-free education in the commonwealth’s schools, as required by Youngkin’s Executive Order 33.
“These initial guidelines appear to be even more restrictive than our current procedures. The VDOE is currently accepting public comments on these guidelines until September 15th. I encourage parents to review the guidelines and share their feedback to ensure their voices are heard in this important discussion. The guidelines are available at www.doe.virginia.gov,” Hicks said.
