Liz Repking featured in Washington Times article: Officials increasingly ban students’ cellphones in K-12 schools, reversing trend

Worried parents have been keen to send their children to school with cellphones ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and mass shootings ushered in the new millennium. Now, public officials complain that students are using smartphones more for cyberbullying, video games and pornography than for talking or texting with Mom.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has become the latest public official to crack down on what she considers to be digital distractions from learning. Kicking off a statewide “listening tour,” she promised this month to introduce a bill to ban smartphones in schools.

“The status quo is not working for our children in particular,” Ms. Hochul said during an appearance at Guilderland High School, a short drive from the state Capitol in Albany. “And I want to make sure we continue to incorporate community feedback.”

Liz Repking of Cyber Safety Consulting, an Illinois-based company that works with schools to develop internet safety policies, said she sees no legitimate reason for K-8 students to have smartphones at school and little cause for high school students to have the devices.

“My experience in the past school year is that the disruption to learning in the classroom is becoming insurmountable, especially for the most dedicated teachers,” Ms. Repking said.

She endorsed a growing school trend of locking personal phones in pouches that can be accessed only before school, after dismissal or in emergencies requiring parental contact.

“Without question, the most effective approach is a complete ban on phones from entry to exit to the school,” Ms. Repking said. “This also means that students will not have access during passing periods, lunch and recess.”

Over the past year, several states and large urban school districts have abruptly reversed course. They cited a surge of student anxiety, depression and misbehavior, including drug dealing and posting embarrassing videos of teachers online. Test scores have declined, they said, and faculty are too overwhelmed to police cellphone use.

Most schools still allow approved tablets or laptops for some lessons, especially in math and sciences.