It's hard to remember a time when smartphones weren't a part of everyday life. For teens in particular, it feels natural to walk around with a powerful computer in one's pocket, as if it were assigned at birth. Those of us who are older (and presumably wiser) might know that they haven't always been ubiquitous, but still shudder to think about functioning without one of the devices within easy reach.
It doesn't take much to imagine how amped up the horror level would be for a teen denied a smartphone, but that's a very real possibility when it comes to school. With the new school year upon us, it raises a question: Can a school administration ban smartphones or take them away from students?
But How Will I Gram My Lunch?
The quick and simple answer is yes, a school can take away a student's phone or other electronic devices in most instances. As you might expect, it's usually far more complicated than the easy answer provides for. For teachers, the distraction a phone can provide, aside from granting access to information during tests, can be a nightmare. Keeping students focused on a lesson can be difficult enough even without the lure of surreptitiously watching TikTok videos.
Whether students can access their smartphones during the school day depends on the rules of their particular school district and the student code of conduct. As one might expect, this varies wildly across the country, especially when it comes to student cell phone rules. It's common for high school students to have more access to their cell phones during school hours than middle school kids, but there's no one-size-fits-all policy.
To further muddle the issue, the policies of private schools can be much more strict than those of public schools. Institutions that don't receive public funding have more leeway to set their own standards on a variety of issues, including the use of cell phones in classrooms.
Some schools allow the use of smartphones as part of a student's individualized education program (IED). Problems can arise when a student instead uses it to post on social media or sends text messages during class time. Those who do risk having their phone taken and other disciplinary actions.
Knowing Is Half the Battle
A rule must be enshrined as part of school policy for it to be broken. The violations that justify confiscating a student's phone must be clearly delineated in either the administration's rules or the student code of conduct.
If the school's rules state that cell phones must be kept in a student's locker or secured in their backpacks during the school day, but a student brings one to a classroom anyway, the administration has the right to either have the teacher seize the phone or have the student bring it to the main office for confiscation.
Some schools equip their classrooms with pouches that students are required to place their smartphones in during class. Others forbid the use of smartphones while on school property to keep the learning environment distraction-free during instructional time, but these cell phone bans are becoming less common as the search for an acceptable middle ground continues.
Taking Doesn't Mean Keeping
School administrators or the board of education may install a policy that allows for the seizure of a smartphone from a student in violation of the rules on school grounds. The administration can also set a policy on how long it can hang onto the phone, but it has to be for a temporary period. Whether it's at the end of the school day, a week later, or the student's parents have to come to retrieve it, there must be a clearly defined return policy in place for the student to get their phone back.
In addition to not being able to keep a student's phone indefinitely, the administration generally does not have the right to examine the phone's private contents or demand that the student make it accessible. Since it's highly unlikely the school would have the appropriate "reasonable suspicion" to do so, it would be a violation of the student's Fourth Amendment protection from illegal search and seizure.
The simplest solution for students who don't want their phones taken away is to respect and follow the school cell phone policy. Of course, that is easier said than done.
Related Resources
- What Is FERPA? (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)
- Codes of Conduct: Technology Use and Cell Phone Policies (FindLaw's Student Conduct and Discipline Law)
- Student Codes of Conduct: Serious Violations and Violence (FindLaw's Education Law)
