State law passed last year mandates all school districts must develop a cell phone policy by March 15, 2025.
SAINT ANTHONY VILLAGE, Minn — One day just before the end of the 2021-22 school year, Principal Amy Stenson Kujawski decided to take a stand on a growing problem at St. Anthony Middle School.
“At this point, two years after the pandemic, they were all looking at their phones,” Kujawski said.
She said students were on their phones in the hallway, in the lunchroom and in the classroom.
“Smart phones were everywhere. Our kids were always on them,” Kujawski said. “I felt like there was enough research out there to support what I knew in my gut. We had to make a significant change.”
Kujawski banned cell phones for the final three weeks of the school year.
“And those three weeks I think I had to make 160 phone calls to families to say there’s been another cell …