Are SWFL schools enforcing stricter cell phone policies?

Florida lawmakers have passed a bill allowing school districts to create their own rules regarding cell phone use, but how is it enforced?

WINK News Anchor Lindsey Sablan spoke with Marco Wasko, a Timber Creek High School principal in Orange County, about how his school policies have made national headlines.

When asked about how cell phones are connected to issues within the public school system, Wasko replied, “So you know, of course, bullying is the big issue, arguments that would ensue or fights because kids would see something on social media and get upset, all the way to not paying attention in class.”

One of Wasko’s policies is that “a student may not use a wireless communications device during instruction times.”

The Lee County School District claims that its ban on cell phones is similar to Orange County’s.

One of its policies reads, “Students may possess a cell phone; however, they must be turned off at all times.”

The policy has been questioned as students have been caught recording fights within school hallways.

In Lehigh Acres, WINK News received a video of a fight that broke out at Lemuel Teal Middle School in May.

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In another video from December 2023, students could be seen recording the fight with their cell phones as a 14-year-old was beaten at Harns Middle School.

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The fights were recorded using a cell phone, furthering the ineffective claims.

Wasko told WINK News that his high school does not face the same issue.

“I think on the first day, we confiscated about 130 phones, and then it gradually decreased to an average of maybe five to 15 phones a day at best,” said Wasko.

If a student in Orange County is caught with an open cell phone, the teacher will take the device and lock it in a locker for the remainder of the day.

“It’s not a battle because we’re not actually taking it; the kids put it in the locker, so that kind of takes away that confrontation,” said Wasko.

According to Wasko, the stricter policy has had a positive effect on students’ actively participating in physical and educational activities during and after school hours.

In May, Collier County’s school board approved its latest code of conduct, which requires all students to turn their cell phones off during the day.

Charlotte County schools have a similar policy; however, it’s a bit more lenient.

Students are allowed to wear one earbud if permission is granted.

Ultimately, enforcement is up to the discretion of the individual school’s principal.