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Parents renew plea for districtwide student phone ban; board to receive survey results in February
Summary
Community group Haven Hold the Phone urged the Wallingford-Swarthmore board to adopt an all-day ban on personal devices, citing research and examples from other jurisdictions. The board said survey results and focus-group findings will be presented at the Feb. 12 meeting.
Members of Haven Hold the Phone and several parents urged the Wallingford-Swarthmore board to enact a districtwide restriction on student personal electronic devices.
Basha (Basia) Silverman, introduced herself as a district resident and said the group remains active: “Haven Hold the Phone is not going away, and we really hope that you consider our requests,” she told the board. Silverman cited examples from elsewhere and urged the board to treat the issue with the same seriousness as other district decisions.
Emily Spangler, a pediatrician and district resident, said she had learned more about administrative barriers but argued that the district can find ways to implement a policy if the research supports it. She urged a consistent enforcement approach and asked the board to consider “a full off and away all day ban on personal electronic devices.” Spangler also said the policy should include exemptions for students with 504 plans and well-advertised mechanisms for necessary communication between families and the school during the day.
Board members acknowledged the public comments. Interim Superintendent Dr. Scanlon told the board the district had conducted a survey and focus groups; he said results will be presented at the Feb. 12 meeting and that about 2,000 responses had been received.
No board action on device policy was taken at this meeting; public comment and the upcoming administration presentation were procedural steps in the larger policy process.
