CLEVELAND — This week on 3News, we've been taking a closer look at cellphone bans in schools across Northeast Ohio, and how those restrictions could soon become the law in our state.
What do parents think? Many we spoke to support imposing limits throughout the school day, but few would go to the extent of saying their children should have no access at all from the beginning of the day to the end.
The No. 1 reason among them? Safety.
"I do want my daughter to have a cellphone, because I want her to be in a safe place and I want to know where she is at all time," mother Shayla Doran said.
"There's a lot of shooting going on around the country, and I would want to know that my daughter is safe," Oksana Yakymchuk added.
It's unfortunately the reality of the world we live in; every parent has imagined the "what if's." Knowing they can get in touch with their child at a moment's notice is comforting, but is it in the best interest of safety?
"While the cellphone meets the emotional security needs of a parent, it can make their child actually less safe in the moment of an incident, because they're paying attention to the phone, they're responding," national school safety expert Ken Trump says. "They're sending messages, possibly even live streaming it. They're not listening to the adults who should be trained to give them directions."
According to Trump, in the case of an intruder, students need to be absolutely silent.
"We have to remember, if somebody is in a school with ill intentions, they have a limited amount of time," Trump explained. "If you're on cellphones — making noises, making calls, getting pings, hitting record — you're attracting some noise to a room where someone with ill intentions may not even know that you're in there."
Akron Public Schools Safety Director Don Zesiger agrees with having fewer phones in hands during an emergency.
"Our high schools have anywhere from 900 to 1,200 kids," he said. "We have six high schools, so if you have that many kids in one area on their cellphones, that can compromise a tower, for sure.
"It's going to compromise the ability of safety forces to get there in a timely manner, because now you've got a steady stream of parents racing to the school to get their student, which doesn't help anything."
One of the major reasons Akron Public Schools decided to completely lock away phones during the school day? Fights at school that kids were recording and posting on social media. This year, they've seen a significant drop in physical conflicts overall, but Akron's policy of no cellphones even between class time is more restrictive than what other districts are putting in place.
Trump says any time there are cellphones in the environment, there's an increased chance of cyberbullying, agitation, and other factors that lead to fights, something all districts need to consider when creating their policies.
"Behavior without consequences is permission, and if you don't enforce your rules consistently and for the long haul, then it's just another rule that's out there that's not going to be followed."
Trump admits kids are really good at out-smarting the rules. In schools where there are lock pouches like Akron, he's seen kids bring dummy phones to school to lock away so they can keep their real phone on them all day. He stresses that if a policy is made, schools need to pull out all the stops to enforce it, as that's the only way to keep everyone safe.
The other big question we see from parents? "My kid gets anxious during the school day. What if they need to get in touch with me?"
Nationally renowned teen psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour says even kids with anxiety need to practice being independent from their parents during the school day.
"The goal over time should be that a young person can handle the range of emotions that do come up during a school day," Damour said. "I think the key here is to not confuse 'uncomfortable' with 'unmanageable.' Uncomfortable is part of life. It's part of being human."
The topic of cellphones in schools is only heating up as we get into the summer, and as we await news from the Stat Capitol as House Bill 250 reaches Gov. Mike DeWine's desk, we will continue to follow the issue and how it may impact your child's school in the months to come.