A growing number of school districts have adopted new cellphone policies to reduce distractions in the classroom.
The Bullhead City School District is taking it a step further and banning backpacks for older students.
“Our district no longer sends text books home because so much of that is done either in the classroom or if there are projects to be done, a lot of those projects can be done online at home,” District Spokesman, Lance Ross said. “So for some of the older students, there’s not really a reason for them to have backpacks.”
When the school year starts on July 29, only students in pre-K through fourth grade will be allowed to bring backpacks. They’re prohibited for middle and junior high schoolers. Ross said many students were misusing their bags.
“We have had situations, as have other districts, not only in our region, but also in the metro area, [of] kids who brought liquor in their backpacks and they were passing it around on the school bus,” Ross said.
Additionally, students will have to park their cellphones in a lock box at the beginning of the day and leave them there until school is out. Ross said students were taking photos of things that violate FERPA and planning and recording fights on campus.
“There were a handful of situations here and elsewhere where kids were taking pictures in the school bathroom,” Ross said.
He added that a pilot cellphone ban reduced the number of fights in schools to zero. There will be some exceptions for students with medical conditions.
