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Isabella Pires first noticed what she calls the \u201cgradual apathy pandemic\u201d in eighth grade. Only a handful of classmates registered for service projects she helped organize at her Massachusetts school. Even fewer actually showed up.<\/p>\n
When she got to high school last fall, Isabella found the problem was even worse: a lackluster Spirit Week and classes where students seldom spoke.<\/p>\n
In some ways, it\u2019s as if students \u201cjust care less and less about what people think, but also\u00a0somehow care more<\/a>,\u201d said Isabella, 14. Some teens, she said, no longer care about appearing disengaged, while others are so afraid of ridicule they keep to themselves. She blames\u00a0social media<\/a>\u00a0and the lingering isolation of the post-COVID era.<\/p>\n Educators say their tried and true lesson plans are no longer enough to keep students engaged at a time of\u00a0struggling mental health<\/a>, shortened attention spans,\u00a0reduced attendance<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0worsening academic performance<\/a>. At the crux of these challenges? Addiction to cell phones. Now, adults are trying new strategies to reverse the malaise.<\/p>\n Cell phone bans<\/a>\u00a0are gaining traction, but many say they\u2019re not enough. They argue for alternative stimulation: steering students outdoors or toward\u00a0extracurriculars<\/a>\u00a0to fill time they might otherwise spend alone online. And students need outlets, they say, to speak about taboo topics without fear of being \u201c\u00a0canceled<\/a>\u00a0\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cTo get students engaged now, you have to be very, very creative,\u201d said Wilbur Higgins, lead English teacher at Dartmouth High School, where Isabella will be a sophomore this fall.<\/p>\n Cell phone pouches, lockers and bins have grown in popularity to\u00a0help enforce device bans<\/a>.<\/p>\n John Nguyen, a chemistry teacher in California, invented a pouch system because he was so distressed by bullying and fights on phones during class, often without adults interfering. Many teachers are afraid to confront students using phones during lessons, Nguyen said, and others have given up trying to stop it.<\/p>\n At Nguyen\u2019s school, students lock their phones in neoprene pouches during classes or even all day. A teacher or principal\u2019s magnetic key unlocks the pouches.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter how dynamic the lesson, said Nguyen, who teaches at Marina Valley High School and now markets the pouches to other schools. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing that can compete with the cell phone.\u201d<\/p>\n Some schools are locking up smartwatches and wireless headphones, too. But the pouches don\u2019t work once the final bell rings.<\/p>\n So in Spokane, Washington, schools are ramping up extracurriculars to compete with phones after hours.<\/p>\n An initiative launching this month, \u201c\u00a0Engage IRL<\/a>\u00a0\u201d \u2014 in real life \u2014 aims to give every student something to look forward to after the school-day grind, whether it\u2019s a sport, performing arts or a club.<\/p>\n \u201cIsolating in your home every day after school for hours on end on a personal device has become normalized,\u201d Superintendent Adam Swinyard said.<\/p>\n Students can create clubs around interests like board games and knitting or partake in neighborhood basketball leagues. Teachers will help students make a plan to get involved during back-to-school conferences, the district says.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom 3 to 5:30 you are in a club, you\u2019re in a sport, you\u2019re at an activity,\u201d instead of on a phone, Swinyard said. (The district has a new ban on phones during class, but will allow them after school.)<\/p>\n At a time of\u00a0high absenteeism<\/a>, he also hopes the activities will be the extra push some students need to attend school. In a Gallup\u00a0poll<\/a>\u00a0conducted last November, only 48% of middle or high school students said they felt motivated to go to school, and only 52% felt they did something interesting every day. The poll was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which also supports\u00a0environmental journalism<\/a>\u00a0at AP.<\/p>\n Vivian Mead, a rising senior in Spokane, said having more after-school activities helps but won\u2019t work for everyone. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely still some people who just want to be alone, listen to their music, do their own thing, or, like, be on their phone,\u201d said Vivian, 17.<\/p>\n Her 15-year-old sister, Alexandra, said morning advisory sessions have improved participation in the drama club that keeps the sisters busy. \u201cIt forces everyone, even if they don\u2019t want to get involved, to have to try something, and maybe that clicks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Thirteen middle schools in Maine adopted a similar approach, bringing students outdoors for 35,000 total hours during a chosen week in May.<\/p>\n It\u2019s empowering for students to connect with each other in nature, away from screens, said Tim Pearson<\/a>, a physical education and health teacher. His students at Dedham School participated in the statewide \u201cLife Happens Outside\u201d challenge.<\/p>\n Teachers adapted their lessons to be taught outdoors, and students bonded in the open air during lunch and recess. At night, about half of Dedham\u2019s students camped, incentivized by a pizza party. Several students told Pearson they camped out again after the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether they had phones with them or not, they\u2019re building fires, they\u2019re putting up their tents,\u201d Pearson said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing things outside that obviously are not on social media or texting.\u201d<\/p>\n Parents must also make changes to their family\u2019s cell phone culture, some teachers say. At home, Ohio teacher Aaron Taylor bars cellular devices when his own children have friends over.<\/p>\n And when kids are at school,\u00a0parents shouldn\u2019t distract them<\/a>\u00a0with check-in texts throughout the day, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents are so tied to their families,\u201d said Taylor, who teaches at Westerville North High School, near Columbus. \u201cThere\u2019s this anxiety of not being able to contact them, rather than appreciating the freedom of being alone for eight hours or with your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Some say other forces behind teen disengagement are only amplified by the cell phone. The divisive political climate often makes students unwilling to participate in class, when anything they say can rocket around the school in a messaging app.<\/p>\nLock them up<\/h4>\n
Do something (else)<\/h4>\n
Get outside<\/h4>\n
Plea to parents<\/h4>\n
Fight fears of being \u2018canceled\u2019<\/h4>\n