It’s no secret that many teenagers and young adults struggle with addiction to smartphones.
“If they’re not distracted by something, it’s very anxiety-inducing for a lot of them. They’re unable to sit comfortably in silence with their own thoughts,” said Joseph Jacobeen, a theology teacher at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria. “They’re afraid of what they might find.”
According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, children and teens spend an average of 4.8 hours daily on social media. And while the smartphone is considered a necessity for today’s teenager, educators across the country endeavor to prevent students’ devices from undermining classroom learning.
In January, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 33, which requires the state Department of Education to work with partners to enact restrictions on cell phone use in classrooms. Youngkin’s goal is to create “cell phone-free education.”
While the executive order pertains to public school systems, its promulgation generated headlines on the subject.
Diocesan high schools have been working for years to maintain robust classroom instruction despite the proliferation of the devices. The diocesan Code of Conduct for Personnel and Volunteers states, “Schools may allow the use of cell phones for educational and emergency purposes only.” The diocesan Responsible Use Policy for Technology adds that, “Any educational use requires explicit permission and parameters from the school administration or teacher.”
Some educators allowed for occasional use of a cell phone for a class project, but according to diocesan Superintendent of Schools Joseph Vorbach, “It’s less the case now, because there’s really been a lot of effort to control and not have phones out at all in the classroom.”
Even though schools prohibit non-educational phone use in the classroom, that doesn’t stop the occasional student from trying to sneak a text during class. Jacobeen, the Ireton theology teacher, said that he observes this problem among younger students. “I’ve taught mostly freshmen, and the freshmen really struggle to use their phones in a way that’s helpful,” he said.
Becky Clement, an English teacher at Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Potomac Shores, has taught at the school since 2016 and has seen a myriad of ways in which students try to use their phones during class. Propping up a binder on their desk is one such strategy.
Rodrigo Jauregui, a junior at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, said he uses his phone for only two to three hours every day. But Jauregui said many of his peers struggle with addiction to their phones and social media. He recalled how one of his classmates was caught twice watching a movie in health class. “Social media — it has such a large influence on my generation, and I see it all the time.”
Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington originally implemented a “bring your own device” policy in 2012, but quickly added limitations for phones and tablets after students began using their devices for non-educational purposes in the classroom. O’Connell Principal Frank Roque described the situation as a “Pandora’s box,” and that phones “had become a distraction that far outweighed the benefits.”
Administrators at several schools state that if a teacher catches a student using a phone during class, the teacher will take the phone from the student. At Ireton, the teacher gives the phone to school administration, which returns it to the student at the end of the day. At Paul VI the teacher collects the phone, and the student must pay a fine. At the end of the year, Paul VI donates these fines to a charity.
“I think every policy is living, and even though we tend to stay with what works, there are things that we’ve adjusted,” said Shawn McNulty, principal of John Paul the Great.
For the 2024-25 year, O’Connell plans to use technology to remove the distraction altogether — lock up the phones.
Some schools require students to leave their phones in their lockers, but Roque said he would still see O’Connell students checking social media by their lockers instead of interacting with their peers in the halls. He said that this year, the school will provide each student with a phone pouch to hold his or her device until the end of the school day.
The pouches, produced by Yondr, have a strong magnetic lock that can only be unlocked with an “unlocking base.” Roque said that offices throughout the school will have unlocking bases, as well as several teachers for emergencies. Smartwatches must also be placed in the pouches or left at home.
Rising O’Connell senior Nora Bruen, said her phone, ironically, was continuously buzzing with notifications the day the new policy came out and drew mixed reactions from her friends. For her, she thinks it will be positive. “I am an outgoing person who enjoys social interaction and takes my academics seriously. I am even excited to not have my phone all day.”
“The faculty and diocese implemented this system because of no other reason but love of the students,” she added.
Schools can give students plenty of resources to develop healthy boundaries with technology, but administrators say that the root of the problem — the attachment or addiction to devices — is beyond their control. “I think sometimes the problem with the phones and with social media is that the kids don’t get away from it. It’s ever present in their lives,” said Melanie Kiernan, dean of faculty at Paul VI.
Paul VI junior Audrey Grimm views the schools’ limitations as a good thing. She previously attended a public school that had less-rigid policies.
“We got to use our phones all throughout school, and I felt like it distracted more from the class,” she said. “It’s much better that I can be fully invested in what my teachers are telling me.”
Solutions to the problem of phone addiction require not only new boundaries but also an explanation for those boundaries. Students at John Paul the Great participate in back-to-school orientation, where they learn the importance of setting boundaries with technology for both their academic success and wellbeing.
“I think telling them the ‘why’ helps,” Clement said of her English students. “I do feel like they come to class prepared as a result of the orientation.”
Administrators say that when educators teach in an engaging way with students, the students often don’t miss their devices. As an English teacher, Clement said she gives her students tactile assignments like annotating their readings or designing a board game based on a book’s themes. “I think sometimes they’re relieved that they don’t have to use technology,” she said.
Educators want students to know that technology guidelines are not intended to hinder their social lives but rather improve them. At Ireton, the school changed their policy for the 2024-25 year to ban phone use not only in the hallways but also in the cafeteria. Principal Kathleen McNutt said that Ireton’s policy states that students may not have a device “on their person.” “We speak to the dignity of the human person,” she said. “You don’t want that thing being the extension of you.”
Schools hope that replacing a screen with social interaction will help decrease students’ anxiety.
“It’s not that we think technology is some horrible thing or that the phone is the work of the devil,” Roque said. “I think the impetus behind it all is to allow students to really encounter the person in front of them.”
“It’s always important to have that balance,” said Paul VI Principal Tom Opfer. “Can you have that face-to-face conversation with people? Because we know that communication is never going to disappear.”
