Trinity Academy takes unique and serious approach to no-phone school policy

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – No-phone policies are nothing new for Kansas schools, but Trinity Academy is taking a serious approach. Every student is given a locked pouch for their phone that can only be unlocked at the end of the school day.

For a generation thought to be constantly glued to their phones, most Trinity students were not that upset about the change. Students like Gabriel Coster and Brecken Howell are among them.

“I’m gonna be honest, I was kind of annoyed with it because I’m always used to having my phone in my pocket, being able to check it, being able to contact my friends and everything,” Coster said.

“We’re all like talking more face to face; we’re not on our phones as much; it’s not that bad,” Howell said.

School staff were relieved, saying they wanted the new policy to bring peace to their hallways. Trinity had initially considered using lockers with unique combinations to store phones during the day but quickly realized how risky that change could be.

Matt Shepherd, head of Trinity College, gave KSN a demonstration of how their system works.

“The challenge with [safes] is you have three hundred devices … worth $1,000, so you’re sitting $300,000 of phones that we actually took possession of,” Shepherd said. “I don’t want to take possession of their device, and so I would rather lock it away and let them hang onto it.”

Phones are put into a pouch with a push-activated lock in the morning, only unlocked after class by wall-mounted magnets. The mounts are removed during school day. The policy is already having an impact and students say they’re seeing an increase in attentiveness among their peers.

“I know for a fact one of my friends spent eight hours a day on his phone. And now he’s going from eight hours to probably two or three,” Trinity Junior Gabriel Coster says. “That’s what school is all about is to learn and to grow. And if your phone is there as a distraction, it inhibits that ability.”

Shepherd says that students checking their phones during the day goes beyond a distraction. His main concern is how social media might impact them.

“I don’t know that technology is the negative. Technology is a positive. It’s honestly the social media addiction that creates the anxiety, depression and those types of things,” Shepherd said. “We want their hearts to be whole. We want their minds to be whole. We want their whole person to be healthy. Honestly, the stress in which they carry in their pockets is powerful.”

The system isn’t completely airtight. Some kids are circumventing the policy by putting decoy phones in the pouches. A $30 fine is the penalty for damaging the bag.

If parents and students need to get in touch with each other, they can use the phones in the front office.

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