Ballard High School in Louisville, Kentucky implemented a ban on the use of cell phones from “bell to bell.” Before the phone ban, Principal Jason Neuss said at lunch time in the cafeteria, “You’d walk in there and everybody had their heads down. Just scrolling, not really interacting.” However, now Neuss said, “There is definitely a different feeling. It’s hard to quantify something like that. But it’s noticeable when you talk with students, walk through the hallways and go into classes.” Stephanie Conrad, the school’s librarian said, “They were kind of in this little cellphone cocoon. Very quiet, not interacting.”
Since the phone ban, students took out 67% more books from the school library than the same month last year. The librarian said that before the ban, “They weren’t talking to me about books. They weren’t defining things like, ‘oh, this is my favorite author. This is my favorite genre.’ Now I’m having those conversations with students again, about books that they like. It’s been fun for me to see that come back around and just to have wonderful conversations with kids about books.”
