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Cell Phone Policy & Procedure

RSVP for Your FREE Tickets to Screenagers

A group of teenagers sit on steps, some looking at phones.

When: 7 p.m. April 27

Where: Midway Cinema, 181 Hampe Way, Chehalis

CLICK HERE to reserve your FREE Tickets

Text graphic stating 'Excessive Screen Time Has Been Linked To Poor School Performance'.

Are you watching young people immersed in their screens — scrolling through social media, playing video games, and losing focus with ever-decreasing attention spans?

Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston faced this challenge with her own kids and screens. She questioned how this was affecting family dynamics, education, and the mental well-being of young people.

Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age takes a deeply personal and relatable approach. Delaney opens the doors to her own family life and meets with others to explore the messy struggles over social media, video games, academics, and internet addiction.

Through poignant and unexpectedly humorous stories, paired with surprising insights from leading experts, Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age reveals how screens are shaping kids’ development. Most importantly, it offers actionable solutions to help adults empower kids to navigate the digital age and find balance.

Our Student Telecommunication Device Use Policy

What is Our Policy?

Our K-12 student telecommunication device policy is Board Policy 3245, which can be read at THIS LINK. In general this policy makes all classrooms in the Chehalis School District free of telecommunication devices, which includes:

  • Cell Phones
  • Smart Watches
  • Ear bud style headphones
  • Personal tablets and laptops
  • Any other device that can send and receive texts, connect to the internet and take pictures

The policy also empowers our buildings to set procedures that are more strict than the district’s procedure. Please refer to your school’s student handbook for specific information about telecommunication device use at your school.

Our Journey to Distraction Free Learning: A Conversation

During the 2026-2027 school year, we engaged students and parents in conversations about our cell phone policy to build trust, understanding and a clear vision forward to create the best learning environments for our students. 

 

Why Does it Matter to Us?

From Screenagers:

  • Students Learn Better Without Phones: Studies show when phones are away, test scores rise. And when phones are present, students who struggle tend to struggle even more.
  • Phones Have Emotional & Social Impacts on Schools: Teens who spend more time on social media are more likely to report symptoms of depression. When teens engage in in-person with friends, peers and mentors, their mood increases.

Read More From Screenagers

From The Anxious Generation:

  • A surge in youth mental depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide starting in 2012 can be directly attributed to a “rewiring of childhood” from play-based to phone based
  • Parents are now overprotecting their children in the real world but underprotecting them online

Read More from the Anxious Generation

 

From the Wait Until 8th Organization

  • Smartphones are addictive: research has shown smartphone use triggers similar brain responses to drug, alcohol and gambling addictions
  • Smartphones are an academic distraction: A NIH study showed children who spent 2 or more hours a day looking at a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests
  • Screen time impacts behavior: A Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry study found likely connections between social media use and Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder 

Read More From Wait Until 8th

The Work of Our Student Cell Phone Use Policy Committee

Chehalis Schools Student Cell Use Advisory Committee

In an effort to continue to stay at the forefront of isssues like student cell phone use, the Chehalis School Board passed Resolution 24-25-017 establishing a Committee to Review Student Cell Phone Use in School. This committee met during the summer months of 2025. This committee was tasked with: 

  1. Reviewing current district policies and practices regarding student cell phone use
  2. Gathering input from stakeholders regarding the impact of cell phone use on student learning and school climate
  3. Researching best practices and policies from other districts
  4. Providing informed guidance to the Board regarding whether the current policy should be maintained, revised, or replaced and report back to the board by July 31, 2025

Committee Members:

  • Aiden, Student, Class of 2029
  • Valerie Corniel, District Parent
  • Heidi Fagerness, Chehalis Middle School Principal
  • Stephanie Fox, Chehalis Middle School Teacher
  • Kelsi Hamilton, District Parent & School Board Member
  • Alicia Hill, Chehalis Middle School Counselor
  • Shawna Herriford, District Parent
  • Caty Lieseke, W.F. West High School Teacher
  • Brandon Marskell, Chehalis Middle School Assistant Principal
  • Katie Meier, District Parent and School Board Candidate
  • Brice Meldrum, Chehalis Middle School Teacher
  • Denise Obtinario, Chehalis Middle School Teacher
  • Libby Rakevich, District Parent & W.F. West High School Counselor
  • Emma Reynolds, Hi-Cap, MLL
  • Carrina Stanton, Chehalis School District Public Information Officer
  • Kyle State, Chehalis Middle School Counselor
  • Todd Thornburg, District Security & Safety Officer
  • Troy Thornburg, District Security & Safety Officer
  • Christine Voelker, W.F. West High School Assistant Principal

 

Committee Research/Reports