Hallway chit-chat is far better than getting ‘tech neck’

I was back in Minnesota last week for a quick Labor Day vacation.

However the “ink” that runs in my veins couldn’t resist picking up the local newspaper where a friend of mine works as the editor of the West Central Tribune in Willmar, Minn.

It was the front-page headline that caught my eye: Minnesota’s new school cellphone policy landscape includes locked pouches.

This sounds interesting, I thought.

The story stated, many students across Minnesota started their school year phone-free in the classroom. The state Legislature mandated all school districts adopt a cell phone policy by March 2025, however, many of those districts spent crafting policies to be in place by day one of the school year.

In July the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association and the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals published the “Cellphone Toolkit” to help guide districts in navigating a tricky subject.

It laid out two model policies: no cellphones allowed all day or cell phones allowed only during passing time and lunch. The reality, according to the newspaper story, is there is a patchwork of policies being implemented across Minnesota.

In two very large Twin City metro area schools, their policies state that cell phones must be turned off and put away.

In a rural school district in northern Minnesota, it is taking it a step further; by having high school students put their phone in a designated location at the beginning of each class period.

A rural school in southern Minnesota has possibly the most restrictive of all policies. Cell phones will be lock in a Yondr pouch from the moment the school bell rings to start the day until the end of the school day. Once the phone is placed in the pouch, it can only be unlocked with a special magnet the school owns at the end of the school day.

Minnesota principals cited a survey conducted by Pew Research in 2024, that more than 70 percent of high school teachers said phone distractions were a “major problem.”

And the problem, according to the survey, wasn’t just about learning, but also about mental health and social-emotional learning.

Superintendent Matt Grose of the Grand Rapids School District said, “If you talk to principals in schools and talk to them how many of the issues and student behavior issues that they deal with that have some sort of technology component, it’s incredible.”

While the school district was bracing for push back, so far, they’ve heard nothing but positive feedback. Plus, they’ve resolved the issues of “what if” a parent needs to get ahold of their children in case of an emergency.

When it comes to students, Grose said he knows there will be reluctance at first and that students will try to find ways to keep their phones. However, he’s hopeful that students will embrace the freedom that comes with being phone-free.

“I think seeing kids talking to each other, seeing kids interacting with each other and other positive adults in the building, is something we’re looking forward to,” said Grose.

I thought about this while remembering when I saw students not looking where they were going with their heads bent down to read a text message ... professionals call it “tech neck.”

It’s frightening to think about how joined at the hip we’ve become with our cell phones. It was then I realized something bad must of happened for the Minnesota state legislature to become involved.

Cell phones can be good and bad. For years, I rejected the idea of carrying a cell phone … until one of the former newspaper companies demanded that I have one.

My response, “You want me to carry a cell phone 24 hours a day and seven days a week … you buy it for me.” And they did.

Years later, I ditched my land line and got a cell phone. Has it been a good thing? Yes and no … but I’m Baby Boomer and I still like to write and send out more than 100 Christmas cards. Call me old-fashioned … and I’m OK with that.

I’ve grown accustomed to always having cell phone on me.

Gone are the good old days of racing to answer the house phone or calling someone on a pay phone. I laugh now at how fast we (my siblings and I) ran when heard the phone ring or the fact we had to share our talking time with six other families on a party line.

Today’s youth would be appalled at the last sentence.

Oh well as they say … the times, they are a changing. Guess, I’ll have to change with the times.