[ad_1]
HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — Lindsey Danner is set to begin her senior year at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. The district is among those in Oregon that have already implemented the “off and away” policy for cell phones during school hours.
Danner sees the pros and cons to the policy.
“You should be, like, fully focused and everything,” she told KOIN 6 News. “But like someone like me, I personally get my work done really quickly and I tend to not have other work. So I’m like, I don’t really have anything to do.”
The “off and away” policy — which is also used within Portland Public Schools, North Clackamas and Beaverton — means cell phones are put away in a bag or locker during school hours.
Hillsboro school leaders say this is the best policy.
“We really need to make sure that we’re utilizing our time wisely with students and that they’re getting the most out of their education, and that they can feel freer to talk to one another and, again, not be judged by the fact that they’re not sitting there on their phone. Nobody is,” said Hillsboro School District spokesperson Beth Graser. “And so it puts everybody in the same circumstance.”
Over the summer, Gov. Tina Kotek signed an executive order to ban student cell phone use during the school day in Oregon’s K-12 public schools. Kotek said schools have until January to fully enforce their cell phone bans.
Kotek said the ban is intended to help kids focus and improve their safety and mental health so they can learn better.
Many schools already have their cell phone bans in place, and have for a while. Some districts tried using — and still use — Yondr Pouches, which students locked their phones in during the day and unlocked them at the end of the school day.
But Hillsboro is one of the districts putting their “off and away” policy in place for the first day of the 2025-26 school year.
KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this issue throughout the school year.
[ad_2]
Ariel Iacobazzi
Source link