Why introducing a smartphone ban worked for this leader

“We wished we had implemented it sooner,” Assistant Principal and Alabama’s 2024 Assistant Principal of the Year Charles Longshore says of Dothan Preparatory Academy’s smartphone ban. Here’s why.

When he arrived at the school for the 2022-23 school year, the district, Dothan City Schools, did not have a district-wide policy. Instead, it was left up to the schools. So, students had access to their phones “whenever they wanted,” unless a teacher strictly prohibited their usage during class.

“What we saw during that year was that our students were constantly distracted,” he says. “We had bullying ongoing due to conversations from social media carrying over into the classroom. We had random pictures being taken and shared with people. We had students calling parents and telling them anytime something didn’t go their way.”

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As a result, his students were frustrated and depressed, and mental health soon became a primary concern for him and his staff. It wasn’t until Longshore’s “big why” that he implemented smartphone restrictions in his school.

He received word that two students were going to fight in between classes. Longshore had about five minutes before the bell rang, so he found the two students and pulled them aside. At the bell, nearly 200 students ran out to the school courtyard where the fight was supposed to happen.

“It was like a stampede,” says Longshore, all because someone had airdropped and sent texts from their phone where and when these two students were going to fight.

“It could have been much worse had I not been able to pull the students ahead of time,” he says.

Behavior turnaround

The school purchased lockboxes that bolt into the walls of every classroom. Each student is assigned a number in the box and during homeroom, each student checks their phone into the lockbox.

“We got creative with our scheduling so every student’s homeroom is also their last class of the day,” he explains.

As a result, they’ve minimized distractions and movement throughout the building, and the district now allows administrators to enforce consequences if students are caught with their phones out.

“The main part that gets us reaction is that the parents have to come to the school to pick the phone up when the policy is not followed by the student,” he says. “Now, all the district’s sixth through 12th grades are doing this policy.”

Across the board, Longshore says, behavior referrals dropped 33% from the 2022-23 to 2023-24 school year. He’s seeing an even greater reduction in the first quarter of this school year.

Dealing with smartphone ban backlash

Unsurprisingly, he says, there was some resistance from parents when the policy was first introduced. However, once administrators explained in detail how it worked, he says parents accepted that it would positively impact their children. The only complaints they receive is when a parent has to come to pick up their child’s phone when they’re caught with it, “which is honestly very few,” says Longshore.

One of the most common reasons parents dislike smartphone bans is they believe they should have access to their children in an emergency. However, Longshore believes that freeing students from their phones is more beneficial.

“We believe that the students are going to be happier, mentally focused and mentally healthy, and have fewer distractions by the phone not being on them,” he says. “Ultimately, this means they should be more successful. We also have a team of people who answer our phones all day and we can get your child very quickly if there is a need.”

‘Simple and reasonable’

“Do it now. You will not regret it,” Longshore tells other leaders. He advises administrators to announce their policies in the summer and hold parent nights to discuss them in detail.

“We put in a lot of work up front,” he says. “We had answers to every question we could come up with in our team meetings and were prepared to answer them with our parents. We did not want to have any hesitation or area uncovered in our plan.”

For instance, administrators planned where to store lockbox backup keys, how to handle checkout and what to do when students are late to school. While some parents will likely argue heatedly against a ban, prepared leaders can respond with clear reasons for the school’s decision.

“The best was one dad who was there for nearly 10 minutes,” says Longshore. “He stood up and said, ‘So, you mean if my child turns his phone in home room, it’s locked up all day and he gets it back at the end of the day? Seems simple and reasonable. Have a good night,’ and walks out.”