Martin Co. Schools finds success in cellphone ban: 'Less bullying... less Instagram'
by Tiffany Rizzo
As of May 2023, Florida law requires cell phones to be put away and off during class, but one school district is taking that even further, banning the use of phones in school altogether.
Martin County School District's policy is you use it, you lose it and your parent has to come get it at the end of the day. "It's not until they leave the campus that they can take their phones out," Jensen Beach High School principal Lori Vogel said.
Vogel runs a tight ship, but she said prohibiting cell phones has made a big impact. "Way less bullying, way less videotaping, way less Instagram, social media posts of inappropriate things."
Vogel said this phone ban and reinforcement from the district has benefitted their students. "They're way more focused, they're not worried about their phones, because they know that no one else is going to be texting them," Vogel said. And that translates to students' grades as well. "We had a reduced amount of failures in the first semester from last year," Vogel said.
Martin County School District has always had a zero cell phone tolerance policy, what's changed? Martin County Superintendent, Michael Maine said, "The level of consequences, and the level of progressive discipline that's handed down."
"They get caught, we take the cell phone, they get an office discipline referral, and they get their cell phone taken away. And the consequences get more severe, that include detentions, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension," Vogel said.
This crackdown has lowered the number of referrals for cell phones in the county from 540 in August to 150 in December. "The kids really know what the expectations are here, and they rise to them every single day," Vogel said.
Martin County School District said after the crackdown on cell phones, they have also noticed a decrease in the number of vaping referrals and bullying.