How to stop students from scrolling phones during class
Students pick their phones back up and start scrolling again mid-conversation after being told to put them down, leaving teachers exhausted and burning out within a year. This constant distraction prevents educators from implementing a gradual release model and forces them into a cycle of policing devices instead of teaching.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1using a phone box in the front of the classroom
- 2enforcing strict school-wide phone bans
- 3writing administrative referrals for non-compliance
- 4Following regular behavior management protocols when the student pulls out the laptop without permission
- 5Requesting a typewriter from the school district
- 6collecting phones in classroom storage bins or caddies
- 7making students store phones in hallway lockers all day
- 8sending students to the office or calling security/deans when a phone is seen
- 9requiring parents to come pick up confiscated phones
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Teachers are not listening to me when I tell them he can ONLY use it for long writing assignments.”source ↗
“I was out on Friday and he some how made it home with his Chromebook and spent 16 hours on it over night.”source ↗
“Parents are now pretty pissed and demanding a scribe for all writing assignments.”source ↗
“But now I am honestly just terrified I will get locked into a corner with no way to implement gradual release.”source ↗
“I'm a year in and I'm already so fucking sick of my students and their phones.”source ↗
“i tell a student to put their phone down and during the conversation they've already picked it back up and started scrolling again.”source ↗
“Right now, our building's enforcement is incredibly inconsistent. The official rule is vague, meaning students are allowed to keep their phones in their pockets, backpacks, hallway lockers, or classroom storage bins.”source ↗
“Yes and no. It’s a milquetoast, toothless “ban” that puts all the responsibility on teachers and no one else.”source ↗
“Lmao. Yeah NY here. Cell phones banned. Completely not enforced by admin. I enforce in my class. If I see it it goes to the office and their parents have to get it. I don’t have time to police the hallways.”source ↗
“Must have admin backing. If they won't confiscate them then it will never stop them”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 13What do you call students who copy or police classroom instructions?
- 6How to balance classroom control with letting students talk
- 2Ex monitoring child location during my custody time
- 7Can I refuse to use my personal phone for work?
- 12How to stop classroom interruptions from photo and video documentation
- 4Students constantly forgetting materials, am I overreacting?