PICKENS AND TUSCALOOSA COUNTIES, Ala. (WBRC) – As the school year nears its end, teachers in west Alabama say a statewide ban on student cell phones in classrooms has led to fewer disruptions and improved academic performance.
Two veteran educators told WBRC they have seen noticeable changes in student behavior and engagement since the ban took effect nearly a year ago.
Jonathan Buchwalter, a U.S. history teacher at Tuscaloosa County High School, drew attention last August with a lighthearted social media post praising the new policy.
“At the time, I had been pulling my hair out,” Buchwalter said.
Nearly a year later, he said the difference has been significant.
“What I saw in my classroom was meaningful improvements and a meaningful decline in behavioral issues,” Buchwalter said. “Teachers were playing whack-a-mole with cell phones before the ban. That is no longer the case.”
Pickens County Superintendent Shawn McDaniel said his district has also seen fewer discipline problems.
“We’ve seen less discipline in Pickens County,” McDaniel said.
Pickens County schools serve about 2,100 students across seven schools. McDaniel said only two students have had repeated, serious violations of the policy.
“At this point we’ve only had two students across our county that had major, multiple offenses of having cell phones,” he said. “So it has been great for us.”
Buchwalter said the change has also eased the daily strain on teachers.
“We noticed we were exhausted at the end of the day because we were teaching a lot harder than we were before,” he said. “We got to devote more of our energies to instruction and less to, ‘Please put that up. Please put that on my desk.’”
He also pointed to a shift in student outcomes. Buchwalter said 10 students failed his class last year across all class periods. This year, he said, none have failed.
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