Spokane Public Schools said proposed phone policy aims to help battle youth mental illness

SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane Public Schools is considering making a change to its cell phone use policy for students coming back to class in a few weeks.

The new policy would require students to put phones away during class.

RELATED: Spokane Schools board of trustees will discuss restrictive new cell phone policy

SPS said it is seeing higher rates of depression and anxiety among students.

"Excessive time and what they're doing on those devices is having a negative impact," said SPS superintendent Adam Swinyard.

The district said kids and adults alike are dealing with phone addiction and limiting access to social media and phones could help address some of the negative mental health impacts.

The new policy would mean teachers and administrators will be able to confiscate phones if kids don't cooperate.

But the district said implementing this will be a challenge.

"We'll want to make sure we're educating students, talking to them about the why," Swinyard said. "Kids want to know why. They want to know 'Why shouldn't I do that? What's unsafe about it? What's unhealthy about it? How is it hurting my learning?'"

The policy will also have different rules for high schoolers compared to younger students. At the high schools, students will have access to phones in between classes and during lunch.

In elementary schools and middle schools, students will be asked to keep their phones in their backpacks until the end of the day.

The district said the new policy has almost universal support, but parents are still concerned how it will play out in emergencies.

"In the very unlikely event there is a critical incident inside one of our schools, our kids are going to take out their phones and text their parents and communicate with them," Swinyard said.

The school board will have a first reading of the new policy at Wednesday's meeting. It expects to vote on the policy later this month.

School Board President Nikki Lockwood said she hopes the policy will help them find the appropriate use for technology and social media in school.

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