When students return to Gehlen Catholic Middle and High School in Le Mars in a few weeks, they will face a new “no cell phone” policy.

Principal Bryan Paulson says they have tried to limit cell phone use in the past, but it just hasn’t worked.

“There was a cell phone holder in every classroom from grades 7 through 12, and the kids had to give their phones to the teachers in the holders and get them back at the end of class,” Paulson says. “Some students just left them in their bags. They tried to just leave them in their bags. Cell phones were a big distraction in the hallways between classes.”

The policy, which goes into effect this fall, requires all students to check in their devices when entering the building.

“When students arrive here in the morning, they come to our central assembly area, and we actually have cell phone lockers. When you talk to the kids, they call them ‘jails,’ but there is actually a case,” Paulson says. “Each kid is assigned a spot to put their cell phone and devices in, and then they go to class for the day, and we lock the lockers.”

Under this plan, cell phones are returned to students in the last five minutes of the day. Paulson said students’ cell phone use had a negative impact on their behavior and attitude toward learning – and some were disengaged in class.

“Students were rushing through their tests just to get to their phone,” Paulson says. “A few teachers told us that when they saw a student answer their phone, other students wondered what they were doing on their phone, if they were taking Snaps or missing something on TikTok. So we saw their anxiety increase.”

Exceptions to the policy apply to students who need their phones during the day to contact a parent or attend a doctor’s appointment. Paulson says parents at Gehlen Catholic School are urged to discuss the issue and the new policy with their children.

(John Slegers, KLEM, Le Mars)