Peter Sawyer has been involved in secondary school senior leadership for over 17 years including 15 years as Deputy Principal at Christchurch Girls’ High – Te Kura o Hine Waiora. In that time, Peter has been Acting Principal for over two years. Peter is passionate about all areas of education, but his real interests are in relational pastoral care, social justice, and positive school cultures.
The Phone Issue – the need to make a change
Cell phones had become a significant issue for our school. Our staff had identified the use and misuse of cell phones as the number one issue in the school. In many ways the horse had bolted; students owned the right to have access to cell phones and addressing the issue, especially in the school break times, was well in the “too hard” basket. Despite there being an ever-increasing call and need for something to be done about them, the challenge to address phones was immense.
After several years of almost turning a blind eye to the phone issue, in mid-2023 we made the decision to address this endemic problem. I do have to add this decision was made well before the New Zealand National party announced a cell phone ban as part of its 2023 election campaign. After winning the election National has indeed put in place a cell phone ban in schools. Unsurprisingly, while the government mandated a ban, the nuts and bolts of how it is to be implemented was left up to individual schools!
Our decision and subsequent implementation of a ‘phone free’ school has given us a head start as we head into the 2024 school year. While it is still very early days in the journey and we still have work ahead of us, we have made significant progress and achieved things well beyond our expectations. The most significant achievement is how positively the students have not only coped with the change but have adapted to and enjoyed a phone-free life and a freedom from social media for a part of their day.
Historically, like many schools, we had had a punitive confiscation system for dealing with phones with the severity of the confiscation increasing with each subsequent offence. Unsurprisingly, this punishment-based system had little effect on student phone use at school and created significant confrontational behaviour management issues. These could quickly escalate to senior management and even Board of Trustee level resulting in punishments far exceeding the ‘crime’. At the time we largely had parental support for the system despite it not legally complying with the confiscation and seizure requirements here in New Zealand. This all changed, however, with the Christchurch earthquakes and later the Christchurch Mosque attack. Post these events parents wanted, almost demanded, the ability to be able to contact their children throughout the entire school day and often did so!
This combined with the explosion of online learning and educational based apps resulted in a change in how we managed phones within the school. Cell phone use in the classroom was at teacher discretion and this could range from no cell phones in the class at all; cell phone use for learning-based activities only; through to students accessing their devices at all times in the period. It all came down to the individual teacher and, as you would expect, resulted in huge variation in teacher expectation and monitoring.
The result of this lack of schoolwide expectation and inconsistency was that our students had free unregulated access to their phone throughout the school day. While issues in the classroom were significant, the impact in the break times was more so. During all breaks, wet or fine, all we would encounter was students on devices, often sitting in groups in almost total silence. Issues of online bullying and other social media-fuelled behaviours were numerous, and these incidents would often flow into the classroom.
Is it just cell phones or is it a wider issue?
While the decision to address cell phones targeted a specific problem, it also presented opportunities to address wider issues within the school and to reaffirm our move to a relational culture and restorative approach to problem resolving. This was a move that had not gone as well as we had hoped up to this point.
Cell phones were just one of the many everyday challenges that we, like most schools, faced – the ‘Groundhog Day’ issues of truancy, punctuality, uniform, jewellery, makeup, and in more recent times vaping. In all of these we have experienced a widening in the gap between the school rules (the written school rules) and the real rules (what the students are actually doing). Behaviours that fell short of our expectations had become normalised even for the most compliant of students. In effect the tail had been wagging the dog.
A strategic and gradual implementation of policy
Upon reflection, we decided it was a better and more manageable approach to try and address each of these issues separately rather than all at once. Cell phones were the most logical choice as it was the most pressing issue for staff. It was abundantly clear that cell phones were negatively impacting student learning. By addressing this issue, we therefore could positively impact student life at school and school culture. If we could do it well with cell phones, then we could employ a similar strategy for the next issue, and it could possibly be a little less challenging.
To re-establish restorative practices in our school we needed to implement and model for staff, students and their families, a system that was effective. We also needed to clearly demonstrate that a real-world school issue could be addressed in a relational and restorative way. We needed a relational approach that had systems and structures that supported the teachers on the ground in effective and manageable ways.
Real Commitment at all leadership levels – Board of Trustees, Senior and Middle leaders
It is one thing talking about and making the decision to try to address a significant issue, it is another putting it into action. We all knew that for any chance of success and change a school-wide team approach would be needed.
Once the Senior Leadership Team had made the decision, commitment and support at the governance level from the Board of Trustees came next. This was followed by commitment from the school’s middle leaders and Deans. Not just a commitment to the idea but a commitment to do the work, a commitment to be on the ground each and every day. This could not be a top-down initiative with the onus of doing the work falling straight onto the teachers. The school leadership had to show commitment to doing the hard yards which they did superbly when we put the system in action. We undertook a communication consultation process with our parent community and the response rate was the highest we have ever received with parents giving overwhelming support for the initiative, a crucial factor in trying to implement change.
With a strong mandate to forge ahead we developed a school policy, a staged roll out plan, and systems to support the implementation.
Implementation Strategy – bite sized chunks
With a school of 1250 students, rather than make the change for the whole school population at once, we decided to wait until our senior students had gone on end of year exam leave and focus on our Year 9 and 10 students. We figured that if we could achieve success with a more manageable group of 500 students the following year, we would have three-year groups who had either experienced being phone free or, as with the new 2024 Year 9 cohort, would not know any other way. In the new year we could then focus on the two senior year groups, to whom we had clearly communicated why and what we were doing before they left for exams. Working with the two senior groups is a challenge we have to face when the new school starts!
Policy and Systems – restorative not punitive
Underpinning the whole policy was the relational and restorative approach. It was made explicitly clear that it would not follow the heavy-handed path of stand-downs and suspensions. When developing a system to deal with phones we wanted a system that was manageable for staff in terms of workload; a system that was clear, and had certainty and was consistent; a system that was relational and worked with the students rather than oppressing and destroying them; and a system that gave them the opportunity to learn and experience an alternative to a phone dominated life.
In summary our cell policy is:
- Cell phones and earbuds/headphones must be turned off and in pockets or bags for the duration of the school day.
- Phones can be used during class time when directed by the teacher. This use will be task driven and aligned to specific learning outcomes.
- Should a cell phone be used during the school day, the phone is confiscated for the remainder of the day, this can occur two times without further consequence. A record of this confiscation is kept and a communication sent home.
- A third confiscation will involve an after-school reflection session and a fourth a meeting with the student’s parents.
Support for Staff
Fundamental to the success of the initiative was the support given to staff. In particular this involved clarity around the relational approach we were taking and that we would not be following the traditional school punishments of Stand Down and Suspension for a student not meeting expectations. The most important aspect of the system was not the consequence but the dialogue, whether between the teacher and student, or the teacher, student, and parents.
Language and communication were always going to be fundamental to the success of the programme. We were striving for “phone free,” not introducing a “phone ban.” We set consequences that included opportunities to learn, rather than punishments. Interactions with the students were to be supportive and working with, rather than authoritarian and punitive. It was also communicated to staff that they should model appropriate phone use. Staff have both the opportunity and space in which they can access and use their phones, and in class and around the grounds staff use of phones was discouraged. I personally found this difficult – when walking around the school and my phone would buzz, I had to consciously make the effort not to check it and wait until I was back in my office.
We all had to remember that we were taking away from the students something that was in many ways addictive and that they had previously had free access to. Staff had to expect resistance and possible defiance.
All staff were encouraged to begin each lesson asking if students had their phones turned off and then given the opportunity to turn it off. Before each break time students were again reminded about having phones turned off – proactive, friendly, and supportive reminders rather than waiting to catch students when they failed to follow the rules.
Staff on duty were encouraged to engage in conversation, even asking the students about life without a phone, building a positive connection. When they did encounter a student who was using their phone they were to try and avoid confrontation. Rather staff were encouraged to work with the student to make a positive choice, downplay the “rule breaking,” and focus on the learning opportunity. Staff were also encouraged to not personalise the confrontation, always giving a “mana-enhancing” way out – a way that allows the person to keep their dignity. Always be prepared to address a behaviour but always value the person rather than try to crush them. When you do focus on the person rather than the behaviour is when they do make the right decision, then praise their decision making and reaffirm them personally.
Support for Students
When the day came to communicate this to the students (they already had an insight as their parents had told them after the community consultation), we had a clear strategy. This involved clearly explaining to students what was going to happen, but with an approach of “we know it may be challenging but we believe in you and will support you.” We also explained there would be clear expectations on staff phone use, and this also helped.
While on one hand we were taking away something they had enjoyed – free uninterrupted phone access – we were well aware we needed to provide alternatives, especially in the break times.
We provided a number of outdoor games – table tennis, Giant Jenga, Connect Four, checkers, noughts and crosses, Corn Hole, long rope skipping, and a New Zealand playground classic Four Square. Students took to these immediately and we have now budgeted for the purchase of more equipment. In the initial days we asked for as many staff as possible to go out during breaks and support students. Staff not only went out en masse but also actively joined in playing these games with the students – an invaluable part of the relational connection.
An unforeseen outcome was the students coming forward wanting to organise activities like quizzes, movie sessions and other activities. In addition to all of this we also had weekly draws for canteen vouchers with all students who had not had a phone confiscated being eligible to win. We also provided lunch at the end of the term for the Ako class (Form Class) with the least number of confiscations. We would advertise each week which class was leading. We underestimated the level of competition this would generate between classes (with both teachers and students!) and we had some concern that a student would have their phone confiscated and then be vilified by their classmates! In the end it cost us two lunches with two classes tied with only one phone confiscated. These are two things we are continuing in 2024.
We were expecting an avalanche of phones to come to the office, fierce resistance and that we would be having multiple conferences and meetings. This did not eventuate. The students completely surprised us with how they accepted and embraced the change.
Outcomes and Benefits
Almost immediately benefits, both expected and unforeseen, appeared. The noise level during break times was significantly higher as students played games or simply sat and talked with each other. Anecdotal feedback from staff mentioned increased focus in class, especially after lunch. The phone zombies disappeared from the corridors and were replaced with students who made eye contact and said hello. Comments were made about travel times between class being shorter. Less students were meeting up in the toilets during class times and less students were presenting to the sickbay – it is harder to organise a get together if you can’t message your mates. Students started making arrangements with friends and family in advance, even before the school day; And as mentioned the number of students wanting to take leadership opportunities and organise activities increased. Parental feedback was also very positive. Parents reported their children talking about their school day and what they did at lunch time and in one case playing a game instead of being on their phone at home.
When I asked students what life was like having a phone free school day, many said they really liked it and many said they were now leaving their phone at home – I was sworn to secrecy and not to tell anyone that they had said it! In the new year we plan to survey students to get more data on the phone free life at school. A completely unexpected “problem” also presented itself, one from the pre phone days – student noise during break times disturbing the senior exams! While a problem, it was a nice problem.
Looking Ahead – learnings, opportunities and challenges
While our expectations have been well exceeded, we are still in the early days, and we still have to bring our two senior year groups on the same positive journey. This has presented another opportunity, supporting our junior students in leading the seniors through the change. Student leadership in New Zealand schools is very often limited to the senior students, but we now have more opportunity to support junior students taking the leadership role. The challenge for them (and us) is “How do we all maintain what we have started? How do we keep it going and not let those in Years 12 & 13 drag us back?”
During their exam period many of our senior students had come into the school and had seen and felt the changes. They couldn’t believe the noise, laughter, and activity and many have said they want to come back in the new year to experience it. There will of course be the detractors, those unable to see life beyond their device and we will continue to work with them.
Having made significant inroads into addressing cell phones we have also started positively in our mission of re-establishing a restorative approach. In particular this means using a restorative approach in addressing those Groundhog Day issues that schools face. Building on the success of the cell phone change, we are next looking to utilise what we have learnt to address lateness and truancy.
We are already working on this using the same model of having a rationale for change and a defined desired outcome, careful planning, a manageable roll out plan, and positive workable systems and structures. Importantly, underpinning the success of our cell phone policy changes was that we brought everybody onboard through leadership commitment, parental support, and the inclusion of the students in the process. This, of course, was all achieved through clear, honest, and open communication.
We will continue to have our challenges but having experienced success well beyond what we imagined, we feel confident that, with a whole school commitment we can continue with addressing the cell phone and then other issues in a positive, relational and culture enhancing way.
