This fall, Harvard joins a growing list of Massachusetts school districts that are banning students’ use of cellphones during the school day. Well over 80 towns in the state had implemented such bans before schools opened last year, and the number has continued to rise over the months since then. According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of high school teachers say cellphones are a major distraction in their classrooms.
At its Aug. 10 meeting, the School Committee approved a policy declaring the Harvard public schools a cellphone-free environment. “Students are encouraged to leave their phones at home,” the measure says. Students who bring their phones to school will need to turn them off and leave them in lockers or backpacks. Students may not access the phones at any time, from the beginning of the school day until dismissal at the end.
Superintendent Dana Labb said in an email that the new policy will be strictly enforced, and he asked families to begin preparing for the new situation. He noted that there are phones in the main office for Bromfield School students to call a parent or caregiver. And adults who urgently need to reach students can also call the office. The same is true for the main office at the Hildreth Elementary School.
Harvard’s new cellphone policy is the type known as “off and away.” The district had originally hoped to institute what is known as a “bell-to-bell” policy, in which students turn in their phones at the beginning of the school day, perhaps to a homeroom or class teacher who would lock the devices in a secure container until afternoon dismissal. Harvard has applied for a grant of about $20,000 from the state attorney general’s office to pay for such containers, but that grant is still pending.
At the moment, the decision to ban or limit cellphone use is still up to each school district. However, both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the state Senate have passed bills requiring schools to implement such bans. The measures remain in committee while the differences between the two versions are being ironed out, according to state Rep. Dan Sena’s office.
