Murphy Creek ends use of student cellphones during school hours as part of its new Phone Free Policy
Dear Parents,
The staff at Murphy Creek has been reading Jonathan Haidt's thought-provoking book, "The Anxious Generation." This book explores the challenges faced by today's youth due to the complexities of being on social media and having increased screen time. The book offers valuable insights for supporting students’ well-being and how to reduce anxiety with today’s youth. Due to this research, the staff at Murphy Creek is looking into methods to decrease the number of negative interactions among students as well as the increase in the levels of anxiety among students. As a result we will end the use of cellphones during school hours. We are investigating the purchase of either Yondr pouches or cell phone lockers to safely store phones during school hours.
Yondr uses a patented pouch that is locked at the beginning of the day and is unlocked by a magnet at the end of the day. This product allows students to maintain ownership of their phones without constant distraction. The other option is using cell phone lockers.Teachers would collect and store all the cell phones from the homeroom class in the lockers. The lockers would rotate with the classes so students can get their cell phones at the end of the day.
We understand this may be a shift for families and students because they are used to having access to cellphones in school. As a staff, we are finding that students struggle to stay off their cellphones and are easily distracted in class because they are on social media with friends. By creating a system to significantly reduce cell phone use, we believe student engagement will increase. We believe by working together, we can create a phone-free school that fosters both academic success and emotional well-being for our students. We're excited to invite interested parents to join us on this mission! If you would like to be a part of this conversation or have feedback on this new policy, please fill out this survey.
If you’re interested in learning more about this book or initiative, please visit anxiousgeneration.com and Yondr.com.
Sincerely,
Chris Capron
Principal
Murphy Creek P-8