Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson announced his push to ban phones during the school day for public schools across the state. He got help from several students, teachers and administrators at Lewis & Clark High School, who said they’re supporting the proposal.
Ferguson is planning to push for the ban during the upcoming legislative session, he said. It’s called “Away for the Day” and would ban devices like phones and smart watches from being used by students between the first bell to the last.
For Ferguson, it’s all about improving student focus and mental health.
“For each district that makes this change, there’s a reason they’re not going back,” he said. “They see the positive outcomes in performance. They see the positive outcome in mental health of students. And God knows we see what these devices do with [the] mental health of young people.”
Gabe Medrano is a social studies teacher at Lewis & Clark, who’s been there for over 20 years. He said phones were a major distraction in his classroom before he implemented a phone pouch system. Students put their phones in the pouch as they walk into class. It’s been a huge help in lowering classroom disruptions, Medrano said.
“This is year two of doing the phone pouch, and I can feel the difference,” he said. “I can see the difference. I’m not having to manage or watch or see who’s trying to sneak a peek or who’s checking.”
Medrano has also noticed students having more face-to-face interactions during and after class, instead of looking at their phones.
Several students at Lewis & Clark are supporting the proposal as well. Grace Parker is a senior and the Associated Student Body President.
“Phones can absolutely be distracting,” she said. “When we’re supposed to be learning, it can be difficult to resist checking a notification, responding to a message, or getting pulled into something happening on our phones. I think it is really important that students have opportunities to interact with the people around them instead of automatically turning to a screen whenever there is a free moment.”
One concern that parents bring up about phone-free schools is not being able to reach their child during an emergency.
“I think we have to trust schools have the communication network set up in case of emergency, so that parents have a way to communicate,” Ferguson said. “But also to allow schools’ officials to focus on the safety of those kids and do what they need to do, [so] that kids can focus on listening to the instructions from their teachers on what they need to do in a crisis situation.”
As of now, this ban isn’t guaranteed. If it does get approved during the legislative session, Ferguson wants to see school districts implement it by September 2027. Students would have a year-long grace period to get used to the change, meaning no students would get suspended for having devices during class, Ferguson said. It will then be up to individual schools to decide how to enforce the ban and what to do with the devices.
