In a new draft, Wake Schools' proposes cellphones be off or silenced throughout the school day

A draft policy would require Wake County students' cellphones to be turned off, on silent or in airplane mode throughout the school day, while individual school principals could set some school-level exemptions.

The Wake County Board of Education's policy committee is scheduled to discuss the draft on Tuesday, along with survey results that show favor for cellphone restrictions among educators and families but not so much among students.

The survey results also indicate that most schools already have cellphone restrictions but that most educators still feel like cellphones are a problem, raising questions about how district and school leaders plan to better enforce existing and future cellphone policies. The draft policy doesn't outline enforcement mechanisms but says that teachers have permission to confiscate phones without being liable for damage to the phones.

The board won't vote to adopt a policy until later this spring. The board hopes to have a districtwide cellphone policy in place by the start of the next school year, which would be in July for year-round schools. The board would also be required to adopt a districtwide policy under bipartisan bills moving through the state House of Representatives and the state Senate.

Related: NC House sets up vote on bill to ban cell phones in schools

Wake County's proposal is just the latest reaction from school boards across the state and even the globe to address a fast-growing concern that cellphones are harming children and interrupting their ability to effectively learn at school. In other counties near Wake, high schools have piloted programs to place phones in pouches that lock or adopt zero-tolerance policies for seeing cellphones out in school, having administrators confiscate them. Schools by and large have long had policies restricting cellphone use but have found they weren't very effective without clear enforcement mechanisms.

Under Wake's proposed policy, principals could set their own school-level exemptions to cellphone restrictions, and the district-level policy outlines which exemptions could be allowed. That could include a rule, at the high school level, allowing students to access their cellphones during class transition times or lunch. At any school level, schools could set rules that would permit teachers to allow cellphone use for instructional purposes.

The draft policy also includes exemptions for emergencies and for accommodations in individualized education and health plans, covered under the federal Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act.

Opinions of educators and parents versus students

Before unveiling the draft policy, district officials surveyed students, families and educators about cellphone use and rules in schools.

More than 80% of families and educators said cellphones are distractions that are causing students to miss out on learning.

By contrast, students were largely not concerned about cellphone use in schools, but 38% of students said instructional time is lost from cellphone use, and between a quarter and half of middle and high school students believed cellphones were affecting student's well-being, being used for inappropriate things or bullying.

Some students have come to school board meetings in recent months, urging the board not to adopt a strict ban on cellphones, citing their desire to be able to talk with their parents throughout the day or otherwise stay connected. They've said students can be responsible with devices.

Some adults disagree, citing the addictive nature of social media on undeveloped adolescent brains that are also primed for social connection.

"When a child has their phone nearby and can access it, their grades and their attention actually suffers based on what they think they could be missing," said Mitch Prinstein, chief of psychology at the American Psychological Association and the co-director for the Winston Center on Technology and the Developing Mind at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Parent Emily Thomas favors as strict of a cellphone restriction as possible. She's the parent of a third grader and kindergartener in Wake and a preschooler and is worried that cellphones are causing children extra stress -- stress that she doesn't want her children to have.

Thomas favors something like a cellphone pouch that would keep a student's cellphone locked away but still in the classroom.

"Phones are a part of a lot of people's lives, and parents want to be in contact with [their children] about transportation changes and things like that, and I understand that," Thomas said.

However, Thomas said she recalled not having a cellphone growing up and that children got messages from the office if their parents needed to tell them something.

"We made it work back then," she said. "And I think sometimes we jump to thinking that [parents] need more access than perhaps they do during the day."

Eva Feucht also wants stronger restrictions on cellphones for her children -- ages 10, 7 and 5 years old -- as they grow up.

"I really don't feel like cellphones have a place in school with my kids," she said. "They're a huge distraction. I don't think they should be there."

Both Thomas and Feucht said they are OK with their children not having quick access to a cellphone in the event of a lockdown -- something many other parents have said they would want. The vast majority of families, students and educators told the district in the survey that they believed students should be allowed to access their phones in the case of emergencies.

Feucht said her children need to be listening to their teachers, not on their phones, during an emergency.

"The last thing we want is lots of beeping, lots of ringing, lots of noise, right when we think about a lockdown situation," Feucht said.

Feucht doesn't think worries during an emergency situation should override the everyday concerns about cellphones during the school day.

'Enforcement is everything'

Wake's survey of principals found that nearly all schools already have significant cellphone restrictions in place -- 98% of elementary principals and 85% of middle school principals said they already restrict cellphone access throughout the day. On top of that, 85% of high school principals said they only allow cellphone access when permitted by a teacher or during transition periods.

Wake's draft proposal largely just makes existing practices consistent throughout the district and to create rules at the few schools that did not report having a cellphone rule.

Yet, despite the large majority of schools already having a cellphone restriction, the large majority of educator and family survey respondents still said cellphones were a distraction in schools, leading to missed learning.

Experts say consistent and clear enforcement rules for cellphone restrictions are critical for the restrictions' success. Without them, many teachers are left to enforce the policies however they see fit. Many teachers become exhausted by the task, with some students fighting back and many students frustrated that cellphone enforcement isn't consistent classroom-to-classroom.

Students, families and educators all said consistency was lacking classroom-to-classroom and urged the district to adopt consistency.

"It's important that we don't just discourage kids from using their devices, but we actually set enforceable policies to make it so kids aren't even considering using their devices during class time," Prinstein said.

The center at UNC is studying how schools are enforcing the policies and how effective those approaches are. Anecdotally, consistency and a concerted effort are key, Prinstein said, and schools have taken varying approaches.

Some may use pouches to lock away phones and others may not be able to afford them but have found other ways to keep phones out of sight and mind.

"We did do some research, though, with one province in Canada that started a phone-free policy last year, and what seems to be the case is a remarkable reduction in teachers' own stress level," Prinstein said. "We're also seeing far less disciplinary infractions about phone use, of course, and we're seeing principals report that they're seeing less mental health difficulties among the kids."

Cellphone policies are a start. Enforcement of them, Prinstein said, "is everything."