The state Department of Education is preparing to implement new cell phone policies at schools statewide.
Starting in the fall semester, all HIDOE schools will be required to meet minimum standards restricting the use of cell phones by students following a February decision by the state Board of Education.
At minimum, elementary school, middle school and intermediate school students will be prohibited from any cell phone use during school hours. High school students can be allowed to use cell phones during break periods, but schools can choose to implement stricter policies at their own discretion.
Teri Ushijima, HIDOE Assistant Superintendent, told Aloha State Daily that most HIDOE schools already have their own cell phone rules in place, but the new policy standardizes the department’s guidance on the matter.
“The majority of our high schools currently allows high schoolers to use [phones] during their breaks and during lunch,” Ushijima said. “There are maybe a couple that might restrict it … but I think those are schools that tend to be smaller, or they might be K-12 schools, combination schools because they want a single school-wide policy.”
According to a report by HIDOE’s Office of Curriculum Instruction and Design last year, 77% of state high schools have a written phone policy, as do 83% of elementary schools and 97% — all but one — of middle or intermediate schools.
The most common of those policies require students to keep phones off and stowed in backpacks or in dedicated phone holders in the classroom. A majority of schools with written policies also prohibit teachers from allowing cell phone use during lessons.
Ushijima said how the policy is enforced is up to individual schools, which will have to communicate their particular implementation to students and families. Some schools may choose dedicated phone holders or other places to store phones.
A student who defies the cell phone policy will be reprimanded for a first offense. A second offense will lead to the phone being confiscated and the student’s parents notified. Further violations will also have the confiscation, and will require the parents to meet with school administration to retrieve the phone.
If parents need to reach their child during the school day, Ushijima said they should call the school’s office.
“When I went to school, before we took cell phones with us, that was the way parents communicated with their child if they needed to give them information during the school day,” Ushijima said.
Ushijima said HIDOE’s complex area superintendents will check regularly with principals about the policy’s effectiveness and will gauge whether any adjustments to the policy will be necessary for future school years.
The 2025 report by the Office of Curriculum Instruction and Design also noted that students have wildly different opinions about the cell phone policies than teachers or parents.
The majority of students who responded to a survey claimed — perhaps predictably — that cell phone use is not distracting and denied that the cell phone policies make it easier to pay attention. On the other hand, the majority of teachers believe that the policies help learning in the classroom, and the majority of families disagreed with the assertion that cell phones do not contribute to bullying in school.
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