Students are now prohibited from using personal devices, including phones, smart devices and wireless headphones during instructional time due to a policy enacted for the district by the Board of Education for the 2025-26 school year.
The policy is a result of the Ohio Budget Bill, signed June 30 by Gov. Mike DeWine, requiring schools to adopt policies banning cell phone use during instructional time, Principal Jason Caudill explained.
Caudill said he supports the new phone policy and believes it will help create a better learning environment. The policy encourages students to be more engaged with each other in class and less likely to rush through their work just to go on their phones, he added.
Similarly, science teacher Janet Mulder said the policy helps students be less distracted and have more interpersonal connections.
“They are more engaged with each other, and they are more likely to start talking, instead of just pulling out their phones,” she said. “I think that’s a benefit, that face to face interaction.”
Spanish teacher Alina Pinney said the new policy has increased student participation and made students feel more comfortable in class.
“There’s less pressure on the students, and the environment of the classroom has become more welcoming,” Pinney said. “There is no fear that when a student participates and gets up in front of the room that their peers are going to be secretly recording them.”
In addition to the improvements the policy makes in the classroom, Caudill said removing screens can also have a positive effect on teenagers’ mental health.
“There can be a lot of things on social media that mess with your emotions, so to not have that in your face all day I think is helpful,” Caudill said.
Mulder said she agrees with Caudill about the benefits the policy has on mental health.
“Overall, it’s a positive when you look at mental health because you are not constantly checking your phone or getting upset because of something somebody else posted,” she said.
Caudill also said students are prone to checking their phones throughout the school day, so removing the ability to check notifications is a benefit.
He added parents also contribute to the problem by giving students a reason to pick up their devices, and the new policy offers a solution for that, too.
Caudill said he was concerned with how instructional time has been defined by the Ohio Budget Bill to include lunch, which means phones are expected to be prohibited during lunch starting Jan. 1, Caudill explained.
Caudill said he believes phones should be allowed during lunch, especially considering students’ ability to eat lunch off campus.
“I do not think we should have to police lunch time, especially because it’s an open campus here,” he explained.
It could also encourage students to leave campus during lunch, which Caudill said he would not want to happen.
Pinney said she had similar concerns about the choice to restrict phone use during lunch, noting she believes students need time to communicate with friends, parents and coaches at some point throughout the day.
Pinney added that she thinks phones should not be prohibited during study hall.
“In college, none of your professors are going to be telling you how to manage your time,” she said. “In study hall, I think students should be able to use their phones because some people have caught up on all of their work.”
Mulder also said despite the benefits of the phone ban, personal devices could be beneficial for students to access science-related apps, which can make labs easier.
“There are certain labs or activities where a phone is a really nice tool,” she said.
Junior Hudson Mugler said the phone policy could be beneficial if it is uniform across the high school, but he explained he is not convinced the policy can be enforced by all teachers equally.
“Some teachers are really strict about phones and some don’t care nearly as much,” he said.
Caudill said he has a measure of success for the policy.
“A measure of success would be when kids are self monitoring and not needing adults to intervene, and when they understand the why and handle it on their own,” Caudill said.
Published and digitized October 2025.
