Bangor Schools Explain New Cell Phone Rules By Grade Level

If your kids have cell phones they're used to using at school, you may want to start getting them used to the idea that this coming school year will look a little different for them.

All Maine public schools are changing their cell phone policies this year, per a new State mandate.

Schools in the Bangor School District are already prepping families for these new rules. The changes will be made according to grade levels, adopting specific policies for PreK through 5th grade, middle school (grades 6-8), and High School (9-12).

Two girls with backpacks in a crowd. — Photo by Margo Evardson on Unsplash

"Per state mandate, all Maine public school boards must adopt and enforce a strict policy prohibiting student use of personal electronic devices for the entire duration of the school day, including cell phones, personal laptops, Smartwatches, other electronic devices with internet or cellular network capabilities —from the starting bell to the dismissal bell."

In Bangor's case, for kids in PreK through 5th grade, cell phones and smartwatches must be powered off and stored in their backpacks from the beginning of the school day until the end.

woman in pink shirt holding smartphone — Photo by Sajad Nori on Unsplash

Middle schoolers will be expected to turn off their cell phones and store those, along with any earbuds or smartwatches, in their lockers for the day. They will be able to use them again when the school day ends. The administration is now requiring that personal tablets and laptops not be brought to school, but instead remain home.

As for students in High School, they'll be expected to power down their phones and hand them in to a designated teacher or administrator or main office (if there's a planned tardy or early dismissal) for those phones to be stored in special cell phone boxes for the duration of their day. There's also a change now when it comes to personal laptops or devices.

"Personal devices, including laptops and tablets, will no longer be registered for personal use, and we ask that those remain at home. All students will be issued a new Chromebook for school and take-home academic use."

The use of earbuds during the school day will be prohibited, and administrators advise that smartwatches should no longer be worn to school, but left at home.

They do say that students who need phones or watches for medical/communication issues may receive exemptions from the new rules, and those cases will be made on an "as needed" basis.

As you can imagine, this will take some getting used to for many kids who have been used to much more lenient policies. So it might not be a bad idea to talk to your kids in advance about the changes, and get them used to the new rules and ideas, rather than have them caught off guard when the school year starts.