Reject One-Size-Fits-All Bans on Phones in School

On this episode, Ulric Shannon, Executive Director of the Surge Institute in Chicago, and Kyla Mathews, principal of Epic Academy High School, join me to talk about the controversial issue of banning smartphones in schools. While acknowledging the negative impact of excessive phone use, both guests argue against blanket bans and instead emphasize the importance of teaching responsible use and engaging students in setting digital norms. They discuss how cell phones can serve educational and social-emotional purposes when integrated thoughtfully, highlight the real-world challenges of device access in classrooms, and stress the importance of fostering trust with students and parents.

Michael Horn

Welcome to the Future of Education. I am Michael Horn and you're joining the show where we are dedicated to creating a world in which all individuals can build their passions, fulfill their potential, and live lives of purpose. And as we figure out how to do that, we do so right now against a bleak set of statistics, if you will. We have a mental health crisis among teens. We have rampant disengagement and chronic absenteeism for many high schools. And social media, which is often accessed through smartphones, has been a leading suspect in the cause of this. And the result from all that is that states and many districts are banning smartphones in schools in a variety of ways right now across the nation.

Nuanced Phone Policy in Education

Now, I'll put my cards on the table. I've been arguing for a more nuanced position rather than a blanket ban from on high, where educators have the power to ban phones in their classrooms when it makes sense, but they also have the power to use them when it will advance an educational or engagement purpose. But it does feel at the moment like there's a tide against any nuanced positions in this country in general, I will say. And yet we have a couple educators joining us today who I'm thrilled to get their perspective because they have also found a nuanced way through this conversation that I'm really excited and eager to learn from. So first we have Ulric Shannon. He's the executive director of the Surge Institute in the Chicago region. Surge is an organization dedicated to cultivating black, brown and Latino leaders to transform education. And then we have Kyla Mathews, who is a principal of Epic Academy High School, which is a charter school in Chicago focusing on college going for its graduates.

And Kyla is a Surge fellow at the moment. So, Ulric, Kyla, great to see you both. Thanks so much for joining me.

Kyla Mathews

Thank you for having us.

Ulric Shannon

Yeah, thank you so much for having us, Michael.

Michael Horn

Yeah, you bet. I'm excited to learn from you on this topic, but let's, let's get right into it, right? 21 states, I think at latest count, I believe, have passed laws restricting regulating cell phone usage in schools. We have the author, John Haidt, who's on the warpath with his best selling book advocating for a lot of these laws and so forth. Kyla, you run a school that's one to one device school. And as I understand it, you have been arguing that these folks have it wrong, that a blanket ban doesn't make sense. So at a high level for right now, help us understand why that's been your position.

Kyla Mathews As a Principal of Epic and a former assistant principal of a large urban school and a parent of a generation Alpha student. People can't think that a broad brush of no cell phones is like the way to go. But what we're learning is that the children that we service right now have not ever not had a phone in their hand. And so being mindful of your audience, being mindful of who you service, you have to be clear about that. And so that's why it's not the right way to go to ban the cell phones without any clear communication expectations and a buffer or filler to replace something that's a part of people's lives.

Michael Horn

So I want to dig into that and a little, a little bit more. But Ulric, maybe lay out your perspective first because you're working, as I understand it, not just with Kyla, but with lots of school leaders in Chicago. What do you see? Because I'm hearing that a lot of educators are really loving these bans. Once they're in place, they're saying, thank God someone else made the decision for me. In effect, what are you seeing on the ground?

Ulric Shannon

Yeah, I think there's a number of things that are at play here. I think districts are under a lot of pressure, right, to improve academic outcomes. And so they see that as phone bans as a quick fix to that. Right. Like we need to have like deeper conversations around that and actually engage students in that 1. 2 I would say that schools, at the school level, they're responding to a growing concerns related to classroom distractions, cyber bullying and student mental health, as you talked to earlier. And we have to admit that the pandemic accelerated that. Right.

The use of technology. Now educators are actually seeing how constant student interaction or phone usage can actually undermine their attention and their community connection, which is also important inside the classroom. So I think if we look at different levels within the education system and the structure, I think people are just quickly responding because there is some urgency around the preparedness for our young people to go off into the world, whether it's academically prepared, socially prepared, and a number of other things. And, you know, cell phones can sometimes feel like a little bit of a distraction, maybe a lot of distraction, and the root of a lot of just, you know, teenage or young people issues because they have so much access to each other. So I think it's just a quick response to a greater outcome, some good intentions, but maybe some poor outcomes.

Michael Horn

Well, so, so stay on that because. So I think what I'm hearing, Kyla, right from you is phones like they're with the kids. Whether we like it or not, they are the tableau. Ulric, you're saying, if I'm hearing correctly, like, so there's sort of a snap reaction, we'll just take them away and somehow solve the problem. I think a lot of educators are saying it does solve the problem, like, you know, behavior seems better in their schools and classrooms and things like that. So help me understand like why this might not actually be the right answer. And Ulric, maybe start with you, like why, why is it just that a snap reaction rather than maybe attacking the root cause of what's going on?

Student Involvement in Phone Usage

Ulric Shannon

I think we have to recognize that. I mean, I think Kyla spoke to her earlier, like they had phones in their hands since they were born, right? And phones can actually be a lifeline for students navigating complex identities and social environments. And so it can be kind of a coping tool for students. But like I said earlier, we must understand the why behind the behavior and not just try to control it. And we know that research says that excess usage of phones and social media can actually increase anxiety or in comparison to disengagement. But I think if we can actually bring in students into that process, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. They can actually co-design some of those norms with students. Maybe it's creating a tech-free zone or structure breaks, informing some digital literacy courses that can actually support healthy usage and boundaries of cell phones.

I think there is certainly things that we can do, but I think maybe some of the capacity issues within buildings make that a little bit of a challenge when you may not have all the bodies and resources inside of your school to actually tend to those needs and a loving and and caring way that you would like to have inside of your schools.

Michael Horn

Well, so Kyla, let me go to you there, like what are you doing, right, to reset this? What's a better way forward in your view?

Cell Phones in Education Debate

Kyla Mathews

I [agree with] everything Ulric just said because we have to be clear whether the cell phone is a distraction or not. And we also have to understand from a youth's perspective that if I release my cell phone to you, am I trusting you as a person, as my teacher? And then secondly, what are you going to replace with my level of entertainment if we want to bring in the social media part? But I have an antidote to this discussion because a number of my staff members who do not have cell phone issues, they just realize that they can capitalize on their age gap or the non existent age gap, like they're Very accepting that cell phones do exist, but I'm going to teach you how to use it responsibly. Even being really specific in a history class the other day, last month, part of an evaluation, part of my popping in a teacher was clear with students about why Twitter is not a good source for information and it created a healthy debate with students. So, now we're not arguing about the phone and being distracted by the content or my teacher isn't accepting of the way I receive information which actually bringing it into the conversation and having a debate about why primary sources are still the way to go.

Michael Horn

So in that case, Kyla. Right. Like it's sort of an entry point into a broader conversation, it seems like. So, so, so part of the job is like, is that part of the answer that teachers, I mean it feels like we asked teachers to do a ton of stuff today. Do they have another responsibility on, on, on their, sort of on their desks, if you will, or is there, you know, is this part of something bigger?

Kyla Mathews

Yeah, the hurdle, I think and, and just talking with teachers, talking with students, I think two challenges come up for us. One, because I do think I'm a teacher of teachers, so I say to us one is that you don't want to be in a power struggle with students about their personal items. So it's not about the physical phone. Right. But for some students and families it is about the physical possession. And so you want to make sure that trust exists, that this is not about the phone. This is about. At our school we prioritize XYZ over phones in classrooms.

Right. So we're clear about the academic expectations, but also we want to promote face-to-face interactions and socializations in the academic setting. Post-pandemic, everything was, you know, we're virtual right now. And so we want to understand that we are trying to get back to this human side of education that makes this industry extremely different than other industries. So if the phone is a distraction, just naming those things with families, they understand that why better than oh yeah, we're just a no cell phone campus. It's zero tolerance. That doesn't help families make decisions for their children. And then secondly, kids want to know that if you take away my entertainment, will this lesson be of my benefit? Whether it's interesting, whether I get something cognitively, they just want to know what is the exchange rate.

And I think us as educators, we have to be clear about what, what I have to offer you, what we are going to engage in in the next 50 minutes or 35, because you can have a brain break and then we'll pop back into our lesson. But there's a level of bartering that has to happen because you acknowledge that the cell phone is not going anywhere. What I have to offer you with this primary source may or may not be. It may be the better option in obtaining information. And this face to face interaction that we're having at school is definitely the way to go, especially between 8 and 3. Please and thank you.

Michael Horn

Well, so stay on that because I think there's like two things that you're sort of arguing there. Right? Number one, so we can take away the cell phone during school hours through a ban, but like kids are still using them at night, you know. Ulric, you were mentioning like a lot of the bullying and stuff like that that's happening off school hours. Right. And so like we're sort of band aiding a few hours, but maybe not addressing the larger things. And you know, does homework get done if they still have smartphones but haven't figured out how to use them responsibly, et cetera. And then I think the second thing I hear you saying is, you know, reality is what reality is, we're in a world where there's a lot of instantaneous gratification. And so we've got to figure out how to be more engaging and worthwhile for them to make that exchange willingly.

I guess maybe full stop for both of you is like, is that, is, is that the right starting point for the argument? Am I, am I understanding correctly on both sides? Ulric, why don't you jump in first?

Ulric Shannon

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think both of those ones are absolutely correct. I think one, we can't ask or expect young people to do things that the adults cannot do. And so we have to recognize how we play in those classrooms or buildings as well. So they see us on our phones all day, they feel like a double standard. Right. And it's probably not a much different challenge from what parents have to go through at home to get a cell phone or an iPad away. Right? We give it to cope, right.

They need a little bit of quiet time, maybe we need a little bit of quiet time. We give them an iPad, we give them a phone, they can go about their business. But when it's time to punish, taking away that phone is a little bit of a challenge. And so I think Kyla's absolutely right. When we think about like this daily power struggle, it's not for me just about taking away from teaching time. It's also damaging relationships. And we Know that that is a critical piece to get any type of whether your lessons are extremely engaging or are less engaging. If I have a trusting or real authentic relationship with my educator, with my teacher, with my leaders, I'm going to be in that classroom.

I'm going to be in full attention. Right? Because I'm knowing that it's like your lesson was intentional and I like you. Right. But I also think there's this piece where a lot of schools love to have events that say, like, we're going to have parenting training. One as I think that is a little bit disrespectful to parents because it's like, are we already putting ourselves on a pedestal that we know more than you? And it could be around cell phones, it could be around anything. But what I do that in the space of schools is that teachers need more than just rules. They need the training, they need the support, they need the leadership that centers trust. And so if we're not providing them with some common training, some common language and common actions, then if one class was doing it but the other five are not, you're never going to get the type of culture that you would want in your building, regardless if you're banning all cell phones or not.

So you can't, like, while you can ban the cell phones, you can't necessarily ban or change the behavior. It just pushes it underground. So I think those two points are absolutely right. And I just think we need to elevate the space of our collective learning, maybe in some unlearning to really be able to support our young people in classrooms when it comes to cell phones, which is, I think, a very small thing and the grander thing that our young people need.

Michael Horn

Well, so curious off that. And Kyla, let me come to you on this question, right? Because the Twitter example you gave earlier, I bet some people listening who are for the blanket bans will say, well, you could have had that conversation anyway with phones banned. So I think the natural question then is like, are you finding use cases where you're actually using the phones in classrooms themselves to engage in educational purpose? Like, what do phones do well that maybe traditional technologies or books do not do well? Is that part of the conversation too, or no?

Kyla Mathews

Yeah, I think the biggest piece that we are discussing at my school and in all the years I've been an administrator has been around like discussing the cell phone piece. It's like this healthy balance of using phones responsibly. There is an algorithm of your searches and social media will give you what you've been looking for. Right. So if a teacher is very clear on students on how to search and use the Internet to search for information, the algorithm will perpetuate more and more information. So that's one way that has been healthy in a ninth grade English class. But again, to my point, teachers are committing to bringing students closer with something that they value, but also teaching them how to use it responsibly and then countering that with, you know, hardcover texts at the same time. So there's like a healthy balance.

Fostering Community and Responsible Technology

Kyla Mathews

And then the other piece that, to Ulric's point about teaching parents about their students is also bringing parents in that we are partnering with you around just a bigger, a bigger issue with students detaching from community, detaching from primary sources because of an individualized device. And so that's why the broadband is not the way to go. Bring people in closer about why the importance of other ways to get information is just as valid. And we can also be responsible with this phone. What we've learned too on the bullying side is that you got to teach kids how we do school. And if we prioritize academics and our community as a collective, like how we want to exist at school, teach that and normalize it, students will acquiesce. They won't have, first of all, there'll be less bullying issues, but there also be less instances where students will pull out their phone as instead of going to get a trusted adult. And so that's what I've been able to do in these last three years as principal of Epic is raise a culture of we are all responsible for one another.

Even for example, in my announcements in the morning, I ended with take care of yourself and one another. I get that from the nightly news. But that's what's being said to adults, so why not say it to children, right? So we just have to be mindful of that healthy balance with devices we but then also being very, very clear about what we want to accept in our school.

Michael Horn

Go ahead, Ulric. It looked like you were ready to get in there.

Ulric Shannon

No, no, no. I think I was just asking.

Michael Horn

No worries.

Ulric Shannon

I was asking myself, what are we actually teaching to do? Right? If cell phones are not going anywhere and technology is just moving faster and faster. And so to Kyla's point, you just have to find ways to integrate that into your everyday work in the classroom as well, whether that's projects and polls or digital portfolios. I think there's a number of ways to integrate that because the technology is not going anywhere. And if we remove that from students, we're just pushing them back even further because they will have to use cell phone or some other, you know, innovative device of the future. A teleportation device. It could be at one point, right, but if our young people are not comfortable with using it, they're just gonna be light years behind at the rate in which our world is moving in the next 20, 30 years.

Debate: Phones vs. School Devices

Michael Horn

So, that's a good departure point I think for the next question that I'm curious about, which is like a lot of folks will say, well you know, like Epic is a, is a one to one device school. There's laptops, right? Some places have Chromebooks everywhere or tablets or whatever else. Why not ban the phones? Because those are the personal devices. Hearing what you just said, Kyla, right, About, you know, personal property is a conversation. But you know, but it gets rid of the social media. Like we can do the polls and the engagement and the lookup like on tablets and laptops and stuff like that. Ulric, what do you see around that? Like are there specific cases where like actually the phone is just like the right device to do the educational thing we want to do? What are those use cases look like?

Ulric Shannon

Absolutely. I don't know when the. I always ask a lot of people, when was the last time you actually been into a school and been into a classroom? And a lot of people have not been in a very, very, very long time. So they're speaking from a far distance. But I think that these things. Have you ever seen a group of 12 year old try to get a Chromebook out and everyone is not charged and they're not working and we're trying to plug them up and we're trying to find the one that works and we're trying to get them to log in. We have lost 30 minutes of instructional time trying to do that. When I could just say pull out your phones.

I can guarantee you the phone is charged. I can guarantee you it is always charged. And they can jump on the same website just as fast. They can scan a QR code. They know how to do so many things so fast. There could be a TikTok class or a Snapchat class or group for the class where they're able to get information super duper quick. Utilize a Kahoot to collect data in real time from their students. Like do you understand the assignment? Yes or no.

And that allows the teacher some real time data. Definitely just using your phone as opposed to asking a group of kids to find that Laptop. And I can guarantee it in a lot of schools, the screens are broken, they're not charged, all the things I've listed before. But I've seen that in classrooms where teachers and students are comfortable utilizing their phone, they know the purpose and the intent. And if you do that with such routine as a previous third grade teacher, they will do that even when you're not there. They will know when, how and what to use their cell phones for if it's routine. But if it's not, then that's going to be a challenge.

Michael Horn

Kyla, you were smiling there. I want to hear your take.

Kyla Mathews

Yes, again, I oversay everything Ulric just said. That question about have you been in the classroom? Is so valid. The other piece I would add to, though, is the safety component. So back to the power struggle. Many schools, there's a perception about many schools. And we are also evaluating on how well our students feel safe at schools. With the University of Chicago's five Essential Survey, there's direct questions about school safety. And if parents question the safety of their neighborhood, their school, the cell phone definitely cannot get taken because that is my access to my child.

Right. And so that normally is the discussion, that's normally the argument of parents, I need to be able to get to my student, to my child. And so when you build relationships with families, with the community, with students, and understanding that we are safe here, all of us are, that kind of comes off the table when it's time to talk about cell phones. But I did want to raise that as a talking point for the next level conversation. That'll be an argument for sure, the safety concern.

Michael Horn

Well, the safety one, I think is a big deal because chronic absenteeism that we're seeing, it's for multiple reasons, right. Some of it has been disengagement because they're not sure the purpose, but some of it is around safety and things of that nature. So, and I think the argument has been that phones are actually increasing the chronic absenteeism because they're increasing the disengagement. But I think I hear you saying there actually may be the key to increase engagement or at least increase.

You know, my sort of sense that my kid will be okay or that I can reach them when they're in school. So help me understand what that looks like. Like, are you finding that phones actually, rather than increase disengagement, are actually increasing engagement?

Phones: Balancing Access and Safety

Kyla Mathews

Yeah. So phones, again, to your point, just being a broad brush or just an easy thing to blame is the issue. Right. But when it comes to the safety piece, I know post pandemic like immediately transitioning back to schools, families were worried because we all were trying to figure out how to re engage. And the way to my student is I can call them directly. When I was in class, when I was in school a couple years ago, you would have to call the main office or the secretary would have to call into the classroom. But now with that immediate access to your child, especially in the high school level, parents want that autonomy at the same time. So we have to honor that in some sort of spaces.

Right? But if parents, again, trust the learning community, students understand that the bartering between my phone, my cell phone usage and the engagement of your lesson, then it becomes less of a debate and therefore you won't have to be so drastic, as in all being all campuses.

Michael Horn

Last question as we wrap up here, and I'd love you both to sort of take a stab at this one, which is someone told me, you know, Michael, you're just sort of crazy here because, like, we would never have allowed fax machines and telephones on people's desks, you know, when we were, when we all were in school, not to date me, but. Right. And so, like, that's the equivalent of what when that phone is there. And so you just mentioned that the parent can reach out directly to the kid on the one hand, see the benefit, on the other hand, wow, that means anyone can. They can be connecting with lots of folks. And that argument is really would you have had a fax machine sitting on someone's desk back in the day? How do you think about that conversation? What would you tell that individual to sort of reset their mind around that?

Kyla Mathews

Well, as a principal, my biggest thing and what I tell my staff is that my job is to set the conditions so you can do your job the best way you can. And so if you need a fax machine on your desk, we'll get you a fax machine on your desk. And I also have phones in each classroom so that we don't have to go to the teacher's lounge to call families. Right. For any reason. So I say all this to say is that if we are going to make the learning environment conducive for this generation of students, to your point that technology is not getting weaker, it's getting stronger. Why don't we learn how to empower ourselves and students on how to be responsible with all devices while we have them in our care? That's my plight..

Michael Horn

Ulric, your take.

Ulric Shannon

I love that. Kyla. I think we're certainly aligned here. Our job is not to make school harder, not for the adults in the building and not for students. And so our job every single day is not just a third grade teacher, but also a special education teacher. Every student has individual needs just like every adult. And so, yes, if you need this inside the building, you need this support in order to make your learning experience much more enjoyable and you feel much more successful, you're growing in confidence. Then if that is the fax machine, if it is any other, a major copy machine, whatever it is that you may need.

Student Thrives with Computer Accommodation

Ulric Shannon

And I'll close with this story, I have one student who folks told me it's going to be a real, real challenge to get him in the building, to get him to pay attention, to do anything. And this student who is probably now out of college, the only thing he wanted to do was use the computer to do his work because he was so caught up on his pencil penmanship that he would just erase and erase and erase like every day, all day. And this was a student who ended up with all A's in my classroom, even with the IEP, one of the highest performing students in my classroom. And it's because teachers just wanted to make it so much more of a challenge and say, well, he needs to learn how to write well. You know, doctors have terrible penmanship, but they're your doctor, right, and you're okay. And if he just needs this computer the same way that some child just may need a cell phone just to feel a little bit more comfortable to do that work there, why not provide them with the resources they need if there's no need to do the fight, if the grades and the performance and expectations are being met, why pick that as your battle?

Michael Horn

Good way to, good place to end it. I think the individualized support for each student so that they can succeed, which is the goal. Kyla Matthews, Ulric Shannon, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate the insights and the wisdom from on the ground. And for all you tuning in, we'll be back next time on the Future of Education.

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