Cell-phone free Aspen High School sparks conversation, learning, and some push back
Staff and students reflect on phone use two months into a cell-phone free school year
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale/The Aspen Times
Chatter echoes down the halls of Aspen High School with no cell phones in sight.
“I’ll tell you what — the decibel level in the halls … all these kids are outside laughing,” High School Principal Sarah Strassburger said. “Last year, they all would have been on their phones.”
Two months after Aspen High School implemented a no-tolerance policy regarding student cell phone use, staff said they’ve seen more student-to-student social interaction and more focus. But students are still on the fence.
Aspen School District Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said the new policy has improved student engagement.
“Kids are being present and paying attention to the conversation in front of them instead of the one on their hip,” Mulberry said, adding, “you actually hear something you didn’t before — noise.”
He sent out an email before the start of the 2024/25 school year, listing three major reasons they adopted the new policy: to enhance focus and learning, to improve social interactions, and to improve mental health and well-being.
Regarding focus and cell phones, Mulberry said when making the decision, they referenced a number of national studies that found students’ cell phone use greatly reduces their ability to learn.
“What they found was, when you’re in multiple directions of attention (and) focus, you cannot concentrate with any depth or clarity,” he said.
While in the past they had a “cell-phone free policy,” they did not enforce it. Before making the transition, Strassburger said they gave two weeks to the students to prove to them they could manage their cell phone use.
“There were 75 infractions every day,” she said.
Now, staff will immediately confiscate cell phones until a parent can pick up the phone from the office, which can sometimes take days if the parent chooses not to come immediately.
“There are a few that try you,” Mulberry said of students breaking the policy. “Once their parents have to come pick it up, they don’t do it again.”
Since enforcing the cell-phone free policy, he and Strassburger said they’ve only seen benefits.
“We no longer (have) our teachers and students wasting instructional time arguing about a cell phone,” Strassburger said. “They’re focused; they’re in class.”
Chemistry and Environmental Science Teacher Scott Zevin said he appreciates the policy and the way students act toward it.
“They’ve been super responsive to the expectations,” Zevin said. “And they’re much more engaged on a regular basis.”
He said he asked a group of his students if they think the policy has helped them focus.
“They were unanimously, like, ‘yes,'” he said, quoting the students. “‘Even though we sometimes say it’s a pain, we unanimously agree this is a good thing to not have our phones constantly accessible.'”
But some AHS students are not thrilled about the new policy.
“I just feel like it’s infantilizing us. I’m an adult, and I’m not allowed to have my cell phone. It’s just very condescending,” senior Clare Williams said of the new policy. “I feel like it makes me have less respect for the authority of the school because they’re not giving me the respect that I feel like I deserve.”
Freshman Logan Novak said the cell phone free policy makes it hard for her to manage her disability.
“I can’t be in contact with my parents and keep track of what I need because of this phone ban,” Novak said.
Senior Madison Nelson added that the school should only enforce a no cell-phone policy with students who don’t respect the rules.
“Embrace natural consequences, reject collective punishment,” Nelson said.
But some AHS students have noticed an uptick in natural conversation and focus without the prevalence of personal screens on campus.
“I feel like it is nice walking around, and people are actually talking to each other,” senior Kellar Leach said.
Junior Jim Chuluun said not having access to a phone prompts engagement outside of class.
“Instead of having an excuse to not talk to anyone,” Chuluun said. “At least you might as well do something while you’re eating.”
Though junior Blake Christensen said he thinks the school functioned fine before the policy, he does think there are benefits to having a cell phone free campus.
“I think school is a place where you should be learning and you should be focused on the stuff outside of that,” Christensen said.
Physics and Theory of Knowledge Teacher Marc Whitley, who suggested Strassburger and Mulberry take an “all or nothing” approach with the new phone policy, said since the enactment of the policy, he thinks students are more engaged with each other and with staff.
“Kids say ‘hello’ to you and say ‘good morning’ to you,” Whitley said. “That didn’t used to happen at all because they were all walking with their phones, heading to class.”
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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