social media inside schools can be a dangerous mix with online bullying extending into the hallways and Beyond and in the classroom nearly three qus of teachers say phones are a major distraction for learning well in New Jersey some school districts are trying to limit that impact and improve student mental health by restricting phone use on school grounds Middletown is the latest District to do so two years after one of its students died by Suicide as a result of online bullying Raven Santana spoke to some of the school leaders about their plans to restrict phone use your cell phone is a a privilege to be able to bring it to the school and use it it's not something that's necessary you know for the school day you know to to accomplish what you need to accomplish in school so you know of course you can bring it so long as you respect the the policy Kate Farley says that'll be the motto in the Middletown School District if a new cell phone policy she's spearheaded gets approved Farley a parent and board member of the Middletown Board of Education says the new policy called away for the day is more of a break from cell phone use than a van and is aimed at reducing classroom distractions and bullying um it would be at elementary and middle school level that the phone is way for the entire day at the high school um it would be just you know during academic time educational time so all classes including specials gym time things like that they shouldn't be taking the cell phones into the bathrooms um but they would be able to sort of you know access them in the Halls during passing time and and during kind of lunch according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in Fall 2023 High School teachers are especially likely to see cell phones as problematic about 72% say that students being distracted by cell phones is a major problem in the classroom compared with 33% of Middle School teachers and 6% of Elementary School teachers we review bullying um reports every month and the phones are are being used you know there is a lot of online activity that happens both during the school day and outside the school day that we're still responsible for as a district the proposed policy comes after The District was recently sued in May by the family of a teen who died by Suicide two years ago and Middletown isn't the only District to put new cell phone policies in Place Montclair planfield and Lyndon are just some Jersey districts that are using Yonder a cell phone pouch that students carry with them all day but can't unlock until the end of the day has a magnetic lock to it and so students put it in there and then they have to um take that uh Yan pouch to um the Magnetic Locking unlocking device that is placed um throughout buildings and also and external facilities outside of our district to to get the phone out AA Perkins was an educator for 22 years before she became the district superintendent a year ago Perkins says after a lot of push back from students yandra was finally approved and implemented in 2023 in the district's two middle schools and the high school after they noticed students becoming more disengaged distracted and disruptive due to cell phone use cell phones are for communicating and that does not align to meeting the needs of the daily e expectations social emotional and academically so is it a liability absolutely Perkins says the results were dramatic discipline infractions decreased uh student engagement increased um and and that's exactly what we we needed AA says she hopes to see more districts Implement some type of policy as it's been a game changer for her District Farley says the Middletown policy will now be voted on during the next meeting on July 30th if passed she says it will be implemented in the fall for NJ Spotlight news I'm Raven Santana [Music]