If you’re worried that your kids are spending too much time scrolling on their smartphones, you’re not the only one.

Following a nationwide trend, some school districts in central Pennsylvania are eliminating cell phones in classrooms to give students a mental health break, improve their communication skills and reduce distractions in the classroom.

At least two districts in the region – the Derry Township School District and the East Pennsboro Area School District – are implementing new, stricter cell phone policies during class.

According to Dr. Stacy Winslow, superintendent of Derry Township, Hershey High School students will now be subject to a bell-to-bell cell phone policy after the school board voted on a change earlier this summer.

Starting on the first day of school on August 26, students will be required to turn off their phones at the start of each school day and store them in lockers or backpacks. Phones are also not allowed during lunch periods.

Nothing will change at elementary and middle schools because there have been no cell phone rules there for years, Winslow said.

In the East Pennsboro Township district, middle school students must store their cellphones in lockers during class but can access them during lunch, said Superintendent Dr. Michael Robinson. No such measures are implemented in elementary and high schools.

Robinson said the district wanted to take a thoughtful approach and consider parents and students when developing a policy, which the school board voted unanimously to approve on Aug. 15.

“We really wanted to look at it as progress because we believe we are working with parents. I’m not a big fan of the word ban, but more of the word regulation,” he said.

It’s easy to understand why school districts want to restrict cell phone use, as they’re blamed for increased bullying, mental health issues and classroom distractions. Winslow said the hope is to teach students the importance of face-to-face conversations and problem-solving.

“Another aspect is that students who leave school are not able to interact in a business environment, and employers are looking for them to interact,” she said.

Nationally, cell phone bans in schools are a growing trend, as recent research shows that too much social media consumption is not healthy for many children. Many educators also believe that the increasing prevalence of cell phones in schools is not beneficial to student achievement.

According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 72% of high school teachers across the United States said cell phone distraction was a “major problem in the classroom.”

Robinson said middle school teachers agree that eliminating cell phones will reduce classroom disruptions and improve instruction.

“I need teachers to teach, and I can’t have them trying to regulate the cell phones of 20 or 25 kids,” he said. “We had to deal with cell phone policing in the classroom. I had to take that pressure off the teachers.”

US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has raised concerns about the impact of social media on teenagers and urged lawmakers to consider bans during school hours.

“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘Is social media safe for my children?’ The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it is safe, and in fact, there is mounting evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” Said Murthy.

Last year, Florida became the first state to crack down on cell phones in schools, passing a law banning students from using cell phones in public schools during class and blocking access to social media over district Wi-Fi.

In Indiana, a similar measure will take effect this school year, and in Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order this summer directing the state Department of Education to develop rules for “cellphone-free instruction” in schools by January 1, 2025.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is considering banning cell phones in her state’s schools. The country’s second-largest school district in Los Angeles has also imposed cell phone bans.

Pennsylvania is taking a less stringent approach. Under the latest state budget, the state’s 500 public school districts are allowed to purchase lockable cell phone storage bags in exchange for state subsidies.

From a $100 million school safety fund, school districts can apply for a base amount of $100,000. The rest is divided proportionally to the size of the district’s student body. The money can be used for a variety of purposes, from securing building entrances to hiring mental health counselors or school safety officers.

Yondr’s lockable bags are designed to store phones during the school day and are used in school districts across the country.

The bill was introduced by Senator Ryan Aument (Republican of Lancaster County), who said cell phones and social media contribute to worsening children’s mental health and harm school performance.

It is still too early to gauge interest in the bags, as the district application period began earlier this month and ends on August 31.

“We don’t yet know the level of interest from agencies requesting funding for this particular activity,” said Alison Gantz, spokeswoman for the Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

Not all school districts are revising their rules. Central Dauphin School District, Mechanicsburg Area School District and West Shore School District are all sticking with current guidelines.

“While the district has regular and ongoing discussions about how our policies may help address student mental health crises, we have not made any changes to our cell phone policies for this year,” said Mechanicsburg spokeswoman Tracy Panzer.

Panzer said rules vary by grade level, but phones must be turned off for the most part during class.

Some districts, like Steelton-Highspire, are waiting. School Superintendent Dr. Mick Iskric Jr. said the rule will remain unchanged for now: Younger students are not allowed to use cell phones, but high school students are.

“My view is that we are in education, so we need to teach students how to navigate their environment and use technology appropriately,” he said.

In the eyes of middle school parents like Leslie Marshall, a member of the East Pennsboro school board, kids need time to let off steam, even if that means using their cell phones for fun.

As a mother of a middle school student, she said it’s a good idea to allow children to use cell phones during lunch. She said her son and his friends like to watch videos as a social activity.

“I want to support teachers, and I want to support education, but I want to give (students) time to be kids and fool around, as long as they’re not being destructive or hurting anyone,” Marshall said.

There’s no better time for districts to implement new policies than the start of a new school year. While Winslow acknowledged it will be difficult at first, daily announcements in the classroom will serve as reminders.

“The reactions have been mixed. For some children it will be quite a big change,” she said.

After a warning, first-time offenders’ phones will be locked in the school office until the end of the school day, and after multiple violations, parents will be asked to pick up the phones, she said. In East Pennsboro, Robinson said, the rules will be similar to other progressive disciplinary measures, such as talking in class or running in the hallways.

One possible alignment with the new guidelines concerns what would happen in an emergency.

Robinson stressed that it is less effective for the district to send messages when students are on their phones, which often blurs the lines and creates additional confusion during a crisis. In Derry Township, Winslow noted that first responders point out that phones make noise during an emergency and stress that students should listen for instructions.

In addition, teachers have mobile phones and classrooms are equipped with telephones that can be used to make calls outside the building.

If new policies don’t work, school inspectors like Robinson are prepared to review the rules, noting that school leaders will report to the board, which allows them to make further regulations if necessary.

“It’s like we set something in motion, but we didn’t go to extremes because we wanted a partnership, not just with the students but also with the parents,” he said.