Oregon leaders, from legislators to school board members, have hailed Gov. Tina Kotek’s executive order implementing a new bell-to-bell ban on mobile devices in schools statewide, saying it will improve everything from academic outcomes to mental health. But the reality inside high schools around the state doesn’t exactly match that rosy vision.
The Oregonian/OregonLive asked a team of its Youth Voices reporters to document a regular day during the first weeks of the cellphone ban in high schools in Portland, Beaverton, Eugene and Bend.
The high school journalists found that enforcement of the new ban is spotty and remains dependent on individual teachers and building administrators. Students, meanwhile, are finding ways around it, even as some concede that the new policy has improved their classroom experience.
Read more at Oregon Live.
