Marietta schools partnering with Children’s Healthcare, Emory on cell phone study

MARIETTA, Ga. — Marietta City Schools started a new policy where middle school students are required to put their cell phones in pouches during school hours.

The district is now partnering with Children Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University to monitor the policy’s first year.

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The three of them will collect data from students, teachers and parents and then analyze that data to determine how effective the policy is. They will look at how students’ academic performances are changing with less screen distractions and also how it’s impacting students’ mental health.

“This is about understanding how we can create the best possible environment for students to thrive, both academically and emotionally,” Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera said.

The researchers are also asking for parent input on if they are seeing improvements in their family’s dynamics.

Dr. Julie Gazmararian with Emory University said they have already gotten some data for the project.

“Early feedback suggests this program is having a tremendous influence on improving students’ focus in the classroom while also fostering increased interpersonal interactions throughout the rest of the school day,” Gazmararian said. “With so much attention being paid to the negative impacts of social media, Marietta City Schools’ program could be a model that other public schools will soon follow.”

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Earlier this month, Channel 2 Action News visited Marietta Sixth Grade Academy to see how students are getting used to the new policy.

One student told us he’s OK with putting his phone away.

“We don’t really need to look at social media all day,” the sixth-grader said.

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