Hamilton Co. educators notice change in students’ behaviors, academics with new phone policy

In the midst of the 2025-2026 school year, a new policy went into effect at Hamilton County Schools.

The new “wireless device policy” prohibits the use of cell phones, tablets, earbuds, smart watches and more during school hours. In past years, the policy only restricted device use during instructional time.

We spoke to several educators at different Hamilton County Schools to hear what they are experiencing. Before the policy went into effect, they say phones were a huge distraction.

“All the time. I mean you could give an assignment, and the phone would be right there, we were competing with the phones,” said Adriane Banks, cosmetology teacher at Howard High School.

“It’s hard to recall a time when kids didn’t have their phones,” shared Donnie Mullins, principal at Ooltewah High School.

According to the school district’s policy, it reads, “The increase in use of cell phones and personal communication devices by students during the school day has become a significant distraction in the school environment and is impeding student learning.”

Throughout Principal Mullins’s 23 years with Hamilton County School, he has noticed a significant change.

“Last 7 to 10 years, phones have become the majority of technology used for kids. They are literally connected to the phones all the time,” said Mullins.

And Principal Mullins is not alone. Across the country, 26 states have created laws or policies requiring schools to ban or limit cell phone usage. With Tennessee joining in this year, with Governor Bill Lee signing a bill restricting cell phones in Tennessee schools.

With this policy taking effect in October, educators say they are already noticing a difference.

“Before they did not interact as much. The students would be into their phones, so they wouldn’t have to socialize with their peers. But now we’re seeing students are actually playing Uno, coming up with ways to engage with one another, ” said Banks.

Some other factors educators hope this new policy will impact are attention span issues and other behavioral development disruptions.

A study from the National Library of Medicine shows excessive cell phone usage in kids impacts development.

With cognitive, language, and social-emotional development at-risk of being delayed or harmed.

“My hope is that eventually it will help with the attention span issues we’re having. Even as adults, we know how tempting it can be to see a notification then go back to the email. With kids’ brains, I think they’re even more prone to that. And less likely to realize the damage it’s having on their attention spans,” explained Linden Gaskin, school counselor at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences.

Gaskin also worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and says phones were used to cope with the social distancing. This led to many becoming highly reliant on their phones. However, compared to now, she says the shift has been positive and even mental health has improved amongst the youth.

“I would say depression and anxiety levels. And I think a big part of it is the technology. This was a necessary step to get us out of that time. And I think the kids are acclimating very well,” said Gaskin.

Educators have also pointed to seeing an improvement in academics.

“They’re definitely engaging more, we’re seeing scores going up. We hear across in the English department, math, that they are coming up,” said Banks.

Tennessee’s 2024 Report Card for Hamilton County shows 23.5% of 3rd-5th graders are below performance levels, and 35.9% are approaching performance levels.

24.8% of 6th-8th graders are below performance levels and 41.6% are approaching performance levels.

Lastly, 11.8% of 9th-12th graders are below and 43.5% are approaching performance levels.

Educators hope to see these numbers improve as they continue to enforce the new policy and take away those technological devices.

Despite pushback in the early planning stages of this new policy, teachers and administrators say they have had positive reactions from both students and parents/guardians.