Wyoming’s governor and top educator announced Thursday they’re urging the state’s schools to limit classroom cellphone use.
Gov. Mark Gordon and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder wrote a joint letter to every school district in Wyoming on Sept. 18 and made the letter public in a Thursday announcement.
“Unchecked cellphone usage poses a significant threat to both the educational experience and the mental well-being of our students,” the letter says. “Moreover, there is a concerning link between cellphone and social media usage and rising mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders and even suicide attempts among students. It is often the tool of choice in student bullying and harassment incidents.”
Many districts have already implemented cellphone policies, the announcement said, adding that Gordon and Degenfelder encouraged those districts to enforce their existing guidelines for more focused learning.
No Need To Convince Sheridan
Sheridan High School leaders came to the same conclusion last spring.
Teachers were asking Principal Scott Cleland to help them curb cellphone interruptions in class. Curious, the principal spent a couple days observing classrooms and watching for lit screens.
It wasn’t uncommon for one student to get 40 notifications within a single, hourlong class period, Cleland told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.
“Snapchat… Instagram – it could be their games; it could be anything they have it set to,” said Cleland.
That’s 40 interruptions of thought and learning.
Under the old policy, school leaders thought they could simply train students how to use their phones as a learning tool. But they were wrong, the principal said.
The school started priming parents for a change that spring, then warned them in June and again in August, that students wouldn’t be allowed to have their phones on in the building during school hours, starting this school year.
In Case Of Emergency
They were a small minority, but some parents had issues with the change. Their chief argument was that if there’s an emergency at the school, students can’t contact parents.
That was also the key counterpoint in 2022 when Riverton Middle School adopted its cellphone policy.
Bruce Knell, who was a Casper City Councilman at the time but who has strong ties to Fremont County, called it a troubling move.
“Just to take them out of the schools and strip those kids of the opportunity to protect themselves is just completely inappropriate in my opinion,” Knell told Cowboy State Daily at the time.
This concern prompted Sheridan’s backpack compromise.
The students can have their phones turned off in their backpacks, but not turned on outside their backpacks while at school, said Cleland.
“If there are emergencies, we don’t want them to not have their phones,” he said. “That mutual agreement, that they can have them on them, was helpful.”
Heaven Sounds
The transition to no phones was easier than expected, and the results have been great, Cleland said. Students are enjoying themselves and interacting more. They’re focusing better. Teachers are happier. Students aren’t worried about someone secretly videoing them during a shaky class presentation.
“Our hallways are louder,” Cleland said. “(Students are) further ahead in their lessons than they have been in the past several years.”
Terri Markham, parent of a Sheridan teen and executive director of anti-human-trafficking group Uprising, told Cowboy State Daily she loves the change as well.
“I’m a big fan,” said Markham on Friday. Since she works in anti-exploitation anyway, she’s already leery of both social media and cellphones use, she said. Watching the new policy work has cemented that thinking, she said.
Her daughter is more engaged in her school day. She’s related that she’s more social with her classmates.
Sometimes it’s difficult when she wants to text her daughter a schedule change, for example. But the girl usually gets the message early enough when she checks her phone after school or outside the building on her lunch hour, Markham said.
“That’s such a small price to pay, compared to her being more engaged, her mental health being better and her being just present at school,” she said.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
