Phone-Free School Day Policy

No. Students will still be allowed to wear smartwatches, and to use tablets or laptops during their break periods, as they have been free to do before. 

Yes. This policy applies to campus, and we would expect that when seniors leave the building with their off-campus privileges, that they would bring their phones with them and use them.

This policy on phones does not change our approach to BYOT, which utilizes laptops as learning tools in the classroom with the oversight of a teacher. Students should plan to continue with the laptop devices they already have, and expect to use them in similar ways in the classroom.

It is important to recognize that this policy will not result in 100% elimination of screens, technology, or communication tools from students' days, and that is not our aim. We are focused on phones because the research is showing that it is the smartphone in particular whose design is a problem for students' regular attention and their mental health. We should expect that students will still access the internet, social media, etc on their other devices during the school day, but these simply do not have the same negative impact on young people as do smartphones.

Our teachers will work to adapt lessons and activities so that they can still be accomplished without student use of their phones, or to replace phone-based activities with others which still meet the learning objectives.

We listened to student feedback about the benefits many of them saw from studying with music. We also recognize that some lessons and activities which utilize audio and video on laptops require headphones. We still do not want students using headphones in the passing periods and lunchtime, and blocking out opportunities for relationship. So the headphone policy will be mostly consistent with last year, with a bit more flexibility - students may use headphones connected to their laptops during study times in the library, or when teachers direct that it's appropriate during class time. 

The first thing that everyone should do and can do now, is to turn off all notifications which cause the phone to chime or vibrate. These are distracting and unhealthy both in and out of school. Assuming students will still bring their phones to school, our advice is that the best and healthiest thing to do is to lock them in their lockers before the first class of the day, and leave them there until the end of the day, retrieving them after the last class. Research shows that physical distance from your phone helps your brain to focus. The next best thing is to put it deep in your bag and out of the way. The worst thing to do is to keep it in your pocket.

Since our schedule rotates with different classes beginning and ending each day, and we have over 800 students, it is not feasible for the school to collect all students' phones and hold them throughout the day. We considered requiring students to place their phones in wall caddies during every class period, but this would be counterproductive, as it would result in regular phone-checking time as they are taken in and out of bags and caddies multiple times per day. 

We are asking all faculty and staff that if they see a phone out during the school day, they should collect it from the student and bring it to the Dean's Office at their earliest convenience. Students will be reminded of the policy and parents will be notified.

There will be a few designated spots in the building, including the Dean's Office and the Main Lobby Desk area, where a student may request permission from the staff member on duty to use their phone for this purpose, and this will be allowed. 

Students will still have access to their email on their laptops multiple times per school day, so our first suggestion is that families plan to utilize email for communication during the day which is not urgent. For urgent communication, parents should contact the Dean's Office / Attendance line at 317.524.7118 or the Main Lobby Desk at 317.524.7050, and the staff member there can take the call and find the student in the building as necessary.

Requests for use of phones for medical purposes will be managed through the Dean's Office (317.524.7118). We will take each situation into account, make a plan with the student and family, and ensure that students' medical needs are met.

School safety professionals agree that during emergency situations, the best communication is directly from the school to families, and that students texting their parents during those situations is counterproductive to safety, for a variety of reasons. Brebeuf Jesuit will utilize our emergency communication system with families in the case of any emergency, and our procedure will include keeping students' phones away, and we will practice this with them during our drills. 

In this discernment process, we have also had the chance to speak with college professors and others in the higher education field, and to read resources from that level on this topic. One major takeaway is that college professors are also concerned about how their students are distracted by their phones, and by the impact they see on their attention and learning, which they bring with them from their high school experiences where their phones were always present. So, when they see a student who is more used to engaging in person, and not distracted by their phone, it stands out as a welcome differentiator about that student. Similarly, anecdotal evidence from college students is beginning to reveal a theme that looking back, students wished that they would have had more phone limitations during their high school years. Based on this input, our expectation is that helping our students to become more habituated to engaging in their education without phones, will actually be an advantage to them in college.

Brebeuf Jesuit's faculty and staff are invested in leading and modeling this change, but there will be differences in expectations on them than on students. When phones are necessary for the work of adults, they will be used. Faculty and staff will also be expected to model responsible and limited use of phones during the school day, so we should see some differences and healthy adjustments on our part as well.

We hope to see increased student engagement throughout the school day. This includes focused attention in classes, use of their break times for good purposes such as individual and group study, in-person time with faculty and staff, participation in cocurriculars, and in-person socialization with peers. The impact for students over the long term should be seen in their relationships, in their ability to focus, in their mental health, and in their learning.

Over the long-term, we have a number of systems planned for tracking longitudinal data on student engagement, achievement, and mental health. In the day-to-day, we will keep in regular communication among our community about how the policy is going in its implementation. We will engage in our Ignatian pedagogical cycle of reflection upon experience, as well as evaluation and adjustment based upon what we learn along the way. 

One important thing that we hope that parents can reinforce, is why this kind of policy might be necessary and beneficial for students at this time. We also suggest that you make a plan before school begins for how parents and their students will communicate during the school day (see the suggestion above about emails rather than texts). More broadly, we encourage everyone to use this opportunity to consider your own family's approach to smartphones, read some of the many resources that are out there for families, and discuss them together. We don't have one specific approach to recommend, but we encourage everyone to be intentional about it, and to use this opportunity to make any adjustments that you decide are good ones for your family over the summer and as the school year begins. 

The resource page which is linked to our website has a number of good resources already, and we will add to it over time (if you have additions to suggest, please send them to gvanslambrook@brebeuf.org). In addition, we will plan in-person educational/discussion sessions for families as the school year begins, on the topic of parenting and technology, to offer opportunities for parents, faculty, and staff to come together, discuss, and support one another in community.