When Principal Adam Carney asked Cockeysville Middle School teachers about the top challenge they faced in 2021, their answer wasn’t COVID. It was cellphones.

That summer, Carney and his team came up with a violation system to hold kids accountable. They were unsure how effective their strategy would be, but they got buy-in from staff and parents.

“We were able to really crack down on cellphones that first year to the point where it was absolutely amazing how little we saw them,” Carney told Baltimore County school board members Tuesday.

Carney was among a panel of educators who shared their breakthroughs and challenges limiting student cellphone use. This year, 17 county schools tried new approaches to keep kids off their phones in class as part of a pilot program that’ll inform a new, systemwide digital-use policy being developed this summer. It’ll go into effect next school year as Baltimore County joins a nationwide movement to help kids focus in class.

The school system already has a cellphone policy. High schools and middle schools allow phone use only before and after school, during instruction time when a teacher allows and at lunch (though middle school principals can restrict lunchtime use).

So far, educators say what they’re trying in the pilot program is working. Their approaches aren’t identical; different schools allow phones to be placed in book bags, pouches or storage bins.

Superintendent Myriam Rogers said the pilot has been “less about punitive measures” and more about educating families and students on the impact of being distracted in class, she said at a Wednesday news conference.

Many schools in the pilot followed Cockeysville Middle School’s lead. Carney said the goal was to change behavior. School staff members don’t want to tell students that using their phone is bad but rather teach them how to use it responsibly.

“And, when you’re [using it] in the middle of your classroom, that’s not responsible,” he said.

Citing a 2023 report from Common Sense Media, Carney said he told parents that only half of the nation’s 11-year-olds own a smartphone. Meanwhile, 63% of teens say they use social media every day, but only a third say they read for pleasure once a month. Parents of sixth graders he said, appreciate the stats, because kids often pressure them for a phone.

At Cockeysville Middle, phones have to be locked away during class. Having them out could result in lunch detentions or parent conferences. Teachers log every time a phone is out in a spreadsheet, and staff noticed students with no violations had higher test scores. Frequent violators’ scores are lower. That data is shared when necessary during parent conferences.

Sparrows Point High School, which was among this year’s pilot schools, also found success educating students on responsible phone use. She allows her high schoolers to check their phones during “brain breaks” in 90-minute classes, Principal Emily Caster said.

“However, we have learned this is not going to be a quick fix, and we have to make sure we are embracing the attitude of progress over perfection,” the principal said.

Having staff on board was important because the approach will only work if they’re consistent, Caster said.

Board members said they’ve heard from educators in other schools that inconsistent enforcement by their colleagues had been an issue.

The policy itself also can’t have any gray area, Caster said.

“In all honesty, students will find ways to circumvent our policies,” she said.

Like Cockeysville Middle, Sparrows Point leaders wanted to model responsible cellphone use. Students in health class were shown the 2016 documentary “Screenagers,” which examines the impact of digital media use on mental health.

Teachers also talked to students about how healthy digital habits can be applied in college and the workplace.

Rogers said input from the pilot schools will help the school system update its policy for next year. It will include a few models middle and high schools can follow.

“Next year, what all families can expect is that we are implementing the policy with fidelity across all of our schools,” she said Wednesday.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.