Marietta City Schools board votes to lock up middle school students’ cell phones

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Marietta City Schools (MCS) voted Tuesday to limit cell phone access for middle school-aged students.

It’s a move that comes on the same day that the country’s second-largest district in Los Angeles banned cell phones for students.

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Drop your phone in the pouch.

That’s what Marietta City Schools 6th, 7th, and 8th graders can expect this school year after the board voted to take phones and smart watches away during the school day, starting August 1.

“I think there are a lot of teachers, not just in Marietta but throughout metro Atlanta who feel like they’re losing the battle when it comes to student learning and cell phones and we just believe it could be different in Marietta,” MCS Superintendent Grant Rivera told Channel 2′s Candace McGowan.

The students will use Yondr pouches, which will then be locked with a proprietary magnet until the end of the school day.

Some parents had concerns about implementation, but also about getting in touch with their students.

“One of the primary concerns we heard from parents is what if there is an active shooter,” parent Kayla Sargent said.

But teachers say this is a massive victory for education.

“Students are actually going to have to pay attention, students are going to have to be engaged in the lesson,” Jeff Hubbard with Cobb County Association of Educators said.

Psychologist Dr. Rosalyn Pitts Clark said active academic engagement is the responsibility of adults.

“For young children their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed until they reached the age 25, so giving a child that much freedom with a cell phone I feel is inappropriate, and we need to take to take responsibility for their consumption,” Pitts Clark said.

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The question now, is will the limit on cell phones for middle schoolers in Marietta extend to other grades: “as we engage our community further we can explore about extending it to high school,” Rivera said.

MCS said when it comes to punishment, students will get a warning first, then their phones will be confiscated until it can be picked up by a parent.

When it come to emergencies, the Yondr pouches can be unlocked by teachers for students to reach their parents.

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