Update: Atlanta area schools push for student cell phone ban on campuses

A new technology trend for fall is locking up students’ cell phones during the school day.

DeKalb County school board this week voted to join a growing movement to reduce cell phone usage at school. Marietta City Schools and Atlanta Public Schools have already committed to the plan.

Public school systems around the state are warming to the idea. Griffin Middle School in Smyrna barred cell phones during the 2023-2024 school year, and Liberty County near Savannah announced on June 3 that students will lock their cell phones in a pouch while on school grounds.

A May 21 letter from Atlanta’s Midtown High School Principal Betsy Bockman said cell phones will be banned from hallways and classrooms based on feedback from staff.

“We polled our teaching staff about the biggest challenges to teaching at Midtown High. Policing cell phone use and competing with cell phones for student attention was by far the biggest challenge listed by teachers,” Bockman wrote to families. “This feedback came from across a wide spectrum of grade levels, departments and courses. The burden on our teaching and administrative staff to manage cell phones and the behaviors enabled by cell phones is considerable.”

While Midtown High School’s policy is focused on phones, the ban will include personal computers, smart watches, tablets, earbuds, and headphones.

Students at the Midtown High School newspaper, The Southerner, wrote in this opinion piece that the ruling has the potential to curtail covereage and censor the journalism program.

Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera wants the district to be the first in Georgia to pilot Yondr, a lockable pouch for phones.

“Teachers feel like they’re losing the battle,” Rivera said in an interview before the June 18 school board vote.

Letters of support came to Marietta City Schools from former Gov. Roy Barnes, Sens. Kay Kirkpatrick and Jason Esteves, Marietta Police Chief David Beam, as well as leaders in education and religious institutions.

Adrian Epps, dean of the Bagwell School of Education at Kennesaw State University, wrote, “This initiative is not merely about limiting technology; it’s about reclaiming the classroom as a space for intellectual engagement and personal growth … I applaud Marietta City Schools.”

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