Classrooms work best when students disconnect from social media and personal devices and connect with their classmates, their teachers, and learning.
To help make that possible, PSD schools will enforce policies requiring preschool through eighth-grade students to store cell phones, headphones, and all other electronic accessories out of sight and on silent at school unless they have permission from an administrator/designee or it's written into their IEP, 504, or HCAP (Policy JICJ). This will help students focus on curriculum and ensure classrooms offer a phone-free and social media-free learning environment.
While cell phones, headphones, and other electronic accessories can be amazing resources, they can also be a major distraction. Social media apps found on electronic devices can harm students’ mental health, exposing them to cyberbullying, hate-based content, false information, and content that may cause them to feel bad about their bodies or socioeconomic status – all available in an easy-to-access format that can feel hard to escape.