When the Bell Rings, Phones Go Dark at East Lansing Schools

A pair of bipartisan bills banning cell phone use in schools passed by the Michigan legislature have gained plenty of attention recently, but East Lansing schools moved to address cell phone overuse years ago.

Since 2021, students at MacDonald Middle School have been required to keep cell phones off and in their lockers during the school day. The high school adopted a less restrictive practice three years ago — students may visit and use their phones in between classes, but not during instructional time, East Lansing High School Principal Ashley Schwarzbek told East Lansing Info.

Teachers have said the policy has increased face-to-face engagement between students and reduced the number of arguments between students and teachers about cell phones, Schwarzbek said.

She said implementation of the policy went smoother than she anticipated. Some parents had “legitimate questions related to individual circumstances,” she said, noting some students are allowed to use cell phones for health-related reasons, like monitoring diabetes.

“Students weren’t thrilled at first, which is understandable,” Schwarzbek said. “However, many of our students come from MacDonald Middle School, which has a more restrictive policy than ours. Over the past few years, it’s really become business as usual. Students actually have more autonomy here during passing periods and lunch than they did at earlier grade levels, and we haven’t seen ongoing concerns.”

The policy also applies to students who are out of the classroom with a pass to the restroom. If a staff member sees a student using a phone in the hallway during instructional time, they will ask for the device and bring it to the office for the remainder of the day, Schwarzbek said.

Schwarzbek said wireless earbuds, like AirPods, are also banned during instructional time and present a larger enforcement challenge. 

“Students like to walk around with one AirPod in at all times,” she said, “and they can be hard to detect. A student could have their phone in their backpack and still be listening through an AirPod, so that tends to be the biggest challenge we deal with.”

Schwarzbek said that before the policy was implemented, one of the most common concerns she heard from teachers was the amount of time students spent on their phones and the “constant back-and-forth about putting them away.” She said the new policy has helped create a cultural shift.

“I hope it’s taken something off teachers’ plates,” she said. “Feedback we’ve received suggests that teachers feel they have more instructional time because there’s less day-to-day management around phones. We’re also seeing students use the first and last few minutes of class differently — engaging more with each other in person instead of immediately pulling out their phones.”

Ann Siegle, who has one ELHS graduate and another child still enrolled, said she supports the no-cell-phone policy but understands why some parents have concerns. Siegle is president of the ELHS Community Council.

“I know some parents who basically say, ‘I’ll take away my kid’s phone when we stop having shootings,’” she told ELi. “As a body, [the Community Council hasn’t] had any formal discussions. We had an informal discussion last Tuesday, and that seemed to be the sentiment — that high schoolers need their phones. After-school sports, they have other things going on.”

Additionally, cell phones can be an important tool for parents who need to communicate with the children about leaving for a doctor’s visit or other appointment. Reaching a student through a school’s office can take extra time, Siegle said.

Elizabeth Keren-Kelb, a professor and researcher at the University of Michigan who studies the use of technology in K-12 classrooms said there are risks associated with young people overusing cell phones.

“I agree that social media and gaming platforms are intentionally designed to be addictive,” she said. “That’s well established. I also agree that this is particularly risky for youth, since their brains — especially the frontal lobe — aren’t fully developed yet, which makes them more vulnerable to addictive behaviors.”

However, Keren-Kelb said she struggles with the idea of completely banning smartphones and social media outside of school, noting that youth development is deeply social, particularly as a young person enters their teenage years.

“A significant part of that socialization now happens through devices,” she said. “Removing access entirely can create its own mental health challenges, including anxiety, fear of missing out and depression.

“Young people will also find ways to access these platforms regardless of bans, just as they do with other restricted behaviors. Because of that, I’m hesitant to say we should completely eliminate something that has become part of their social world.”

She added that there are clear differences between middle school and high school students, with younger students tending to post online more impulsively — often saying things they think are funny or sarcastic but that come across as hurtful or offensive.

“Ultimately, it’s about management, modeling, and teaching students how to use the technology they already have in ways that support learning rather than undermine it,” Keren-Kelb said.