High schools throughout the region, restrict student cell phone use during class

High schools throughout the region, restrict student cell phone use during class, but St. Johnsbury Academy has extended its ban beyond the classroom this year. Previously allowed cell phone access in non-academic settings like lunchtime was allowed. But now no phone use at all times and places in the school day. “We have adjusted the policy to prohibit cell phone use by students from the start of the academic day until the end of the academic school day (between the hours of 7:45 a.m. and 2:40 p.m.),” an Academy policy statement to students and their families notes. “This means that if a student brings a phone to school, it must be turned off and stored in a backpack for the entire school day.” It’s not enough to eliminate the distraction during instruction time, Headmaster Sharon Howell said. Students also need to engage socially face-to-face with one another throughout the school day, and personal cell phone use impedes those opportunities.