While many in the Wilton community didn’t want to see it happen, school officials — and a small sampling of students — are reporting that the cellphone ban at Wilton High School is getting good reception.
On Thursday night, May 1, the Board of Education heard how the goals of an all-day in-school ban on cellphones, which was implemented in October 2024, are being achieved, including greater academic focus, more peer interaction and a decrease in anxiety and cyberbullying.
“I was really resistant to the cellphone-free initiative,” student Grace Johnson said. “I was actually really against it at first.”
“It’s actually been not bad and there’s a lot of good that’s come out of it,” she said. “There’s good and bad, but mostly good, I would say.”
Junior Zach Mangino concurred, sharing how the common areas in the school have changed considerably.
“It’s just such a different feeling being in the cafeteria … Everyone’s talking, having a good time and smiling,” he said, compared to last year, when most of the students would have their attention silently focused on their phones.
In their presentation, Principal Robert O’Donnell and Assistant Principal Amy Korn said that the three students appearing before the board, including Liam Joy, were not coached in what they were to share but asked to give honest opinions.
“We have not prepped them,” Korn said.
She said there have been 237 “infractions” this year relating to the cellphone use in school, with most of them cases of first offenders, whose parents were notified that they had been using their phones without permission.
Rarer second infractions involve parents having to come to the school to retrieve their child’s phone at the end of the day, while a third infraction results in from two to four detentions for a student, as well as confiscation of the phone.
“We really haven’t gotten beyond that,” Korn said.
“Parents don’t like having to pick it up,” she said. “I had a parent that actually left the phone over the break because they were so frustrated with their child for having a second violation. They said, ‘It’s gonna stay in the school for April break.'”
“Parents have been so, so supportive,” Korn said.
The students shared how the paradigm has shifted, with students generally accepting and resolved that cellphones are no longer an option.
“I was initially very worried about my cellphone use having an uptick in it when I was outside of school (but) this has kind of taught me that I don’t need it all the time and I can just use it for its main purpose,” Joy said.
“I’m finding I don’t need to be scrolling social media all the time, which has been really great,” he said.
Johnson said that, though Instagram can sometimes still be seen on open laptops, the culture is markedly different.
“We really used to have our phones in every aspect of the school … That’s crazy to think about now,” she said.
Likewise, she said, her cellphone use has diminished outside of school. While previously she may have logged up to two hours on her phone just during the school day, now she’s finding personal value in spending so much less time on it.
“I think we can all agree it makes you feel good about yourself,” she said. “Being on your phone a lot doesn’t make you feel good about yourself.”
Mangino shared about car rides to hockey practice, during which there has naturally become less cellphone use and more conversation.
“It’s so different, even in that small environment,” he said.
“On the bus to games, even, less people are on their phones … Kids are interacting more outside of school and I think it’s because we don’t have that access to our phones during the day,” he said.
“I think it really carries over from school to outside,” Mangino said.
Since the initiative, WHS has received visits from some neighboring districts, including Darien, Weston and Westport, all of which are now considering similar initiatives.
“They were absolutely blown away when they went through our cafeteria, to see students interacting,” Korn said.
Administrators shared some anonymous quotes from staff members at WHS regarding different areas of the change.
“We are experiencing decreased anxiety in students and less distractions with situations regarding peer conflicts due to cellphones,” one of the school psychologists was quoted as saying.
“Students are spending more time in classes rather than leaving classes for mental health support/counseling,” another said.
Along with improving mental health, other goals outlined around the ban include enhancing academic performance, promoting connection through face-to-face interaction and supporting positive behaviors.
“We really feel that it’s really helped mitigate issues around cyberbullying,” Korn said, indicating that there are around one-quarter the number of incidents being reported to them.
She said other WHS mental health staff have also noticed less instances of social comparison, in particular among girls where weight and body image are concerned, and the impact of social media promoting that anxiety.
“We’ve seen a decline even in that, if you speak to our mental health staff, because they’re not accessing it as much during the school day and comparing themselves to others,” Korn said.
O’Donnell said that a comprehensive appraisal could not be done for more than three years, when the current freshmen class become seniors.
He said there are still issues being ironed out, but based on conversations with other districts that have implemented similar policies, including Torrington School District, they believe they’re making great progress.
“There are still some students, to be fully transparent, who don’t like this at all,” he said.
The students confirmed this, but said the new norm is that, people still finding secret ways to use their phones are outliers.
“There’s still, I would say, some stragglers, and you’re always gonna have that … I don’t think you’re ever gonna get 100% support,” Mangino said.
From what I have heard this policy has not been well received by students as much as gotten around. It still sounds like the policy is about the pouch and not about the phone based on pouch check.
This is one of the best choices Wilton schools have ever made. So great!!!!! Congrats to all who persevered and got this done. It is an enormous accomplishment regarding the improvement of the academic and mental health of our students. Well done!