A message from Principal Rebecca Noe
For the past year and a half, Oyster River High School (ORHS) has had a no cell phone policy in academic spaces. This was fully implemented in the 2024-2025 school year. As many of you are aware, a new law was passed this summer that bans cell phones in schools “bell to bell”. For us, this means 8:15 a.m.-3:00 p.m. You can view the text of the bill here: SB 206.
This bill is intended to help students. Research for the past few years around teens and cell phone use (social media) demonstrated the negative impacts on teen mental health, attention span, academic performance, as well as sleep disturbances, cyberbullying, and other negative effects.
To implement this law, students will need to keep their cell phones in their backpacks, bags, or in a locker. They will not be able to check their cell phones during the day.
We are asking for your cooperation and help in a few different ways:
- You know your student. Please discuss with them whether they should bring their phone to school if you feel your student will not be able to put the phone away for the day.
- Please don’t text your student during the school day. You can call the main office to get them a message or email them as they have access to their school email on their school computer.
If a student has their phone out during the day, it will be turned in to the main office. The first time, the student can pick it up at the end of the day. If a student has a phone out for a second time, it will be held in the main office for a parent to pick up.
We want to help our students do well in school and life. The skills we work on at school are not just academic. Problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and time management are only a few of the crucial things we practice and want our students equipped with to go into the work or/and college world. Helping them to set boundaries around cell phones will help them learn these skills as well as accomplish their goals.
Thank you for your collaboration!