Central Coast school district bans smart phones, watches in class: ‘It’s a no-brainer’

Smart watches, cell phones and headphones are no longer welcome in classrooms in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Students now must place the electronic devices in their backpacks so that they cannot access them during class time. Although the program is being introduced in stages, students already have reported that teachers have confiscated the devices during the first week of school.

ShaKenya Edison, the district’s superintendent of student services, presented a timeline of implementation during a webinar on Thursday. She outlined a plan that includes promoting the “Off & Away” campaign first, followed by recommendations from the Technology Use Committee and then eventual full implementation of the plan in January.

District officials say the devices are distractions and that “learning zones” should be free of phones.

“Any place that is deemed a learning zone, the idea is we want young people engaged with each other, working on those social skills and competencies, and really plugged into the instruction that has been prepared for them to help them excel,” Edison said.

She said the district acknowledges that, when used appropriately, technology creates access for students to “leave their ZIP code, their city, their country,” and supplement their classroom instruction.

“We didn’t want to have blinders on how technology also can support us, but we also wanted to teach young people that balance is important,” Edison said.

Technology and social emotional learning are intertwined, she observed.

“Social emotional competencies are self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship-building skills and their responsible decision-making,” Edison said. “We refer to education around how to use technology as digital citizenship.”

The program aims to prevent students from using their phones during instruction time.

“We want to make sure we have a balanced approach in responding when students do have cell phones, but we really, really are working to protect that inner circle of where the teacher and learning happens, where the magic happens in the classroom, so that the relationship between teachers, students, and content and standards is protected,” Edison said during the webinar.

The district sent out fliers last week with the message of “TURN OFF SMARTPHONE, TURN OFF SMARTWATCH, TURN OFF HEADPHONES.” There was also a note for students to inform their school if they have a health need that requires cell phone usage.

A caller during Thursday’s webinar said a teacher had confiscated her niece’s smart watch as well as every student’s smartphone on the first day of class. The woman said her niece uses the phone for health tracking reasons.

“As far as the smartwatch, she can take it off and put it in her backpack with her phone and put it on when class is over,” Edison responded.

“In general, we have asked that all technology during the learning zone be off and away.”

School board member Laura Capps, who supports the new plan, said confiscation is not the policy.

“As a mom, I know the struggle against excessive screen time is real,” she said. “Thank you to the teachers and Techwise SB for your compelling advocacy to the school board and helpful collaboration with the district on this smart ‘Off & Away’ policy.

“I’ve heard from many parents and teachers who agree it’s a no-brainer. They tell me it’s one of a few reasons the new school year has gotten off to a promising start.”