Why St. Cloud Schools Have This Cell Phone Policy

Starting this school year St. Cloud School District 742 isn't allowing elementary and middle school students to have cell phones on their person when school is in session.  Superintendent Laurie Putnam joined me on WJON.  She indicates elementary and middle school students can bring cell phones to school but they have to stay in their lockers until school is over for the day.

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Putnam says the reason for this change was because they were seeing multiple disruptions on social media during the school day.  She says this will help students to say engaged and also improve their social skills.  Putnam feels social skills were being lost with too many students staring at screens all the time.

Putnam indicates they do not have any restrictions for Tech and Apollo students.  She says high school students tend to be more engaged and know how to set boundaries for themselves.  Putnam says they were seeing less disruptions with cellphones at the high school level in recent years meaning they didn't need to make a change.  She explains if cell phone use becomes a problem in high school teachers and staff can intervene.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Laurie Putnam it is available below.