Iowa high school prohibits cellphones and headphones to promote student well-being

An Iowa high school announced it will prohibit the use of cellphones and music-listening devices during school hours for the 2024-2025 school year in an effort to boost students‘ mental health.

Hoover High School officials made the change amid a rise in depression and anxiety from their Des Moines-area students, according to a report.

“I feel like a lot of my mental issues were definitely amplified by the use of my phone because it provides distractions,” one student said.

The generation of high school students today, Generation Z, has an average daily screen time of seven hours, the report noted.

“One thing that we are needing to do for students, we are needing to re-imagine school for them, without a phone,” HHS assistant principal Rob Randazzo said.

Hoover High School is not the first Iowa school to ban technology during school hours, according to a report.

Evans Middle School in Ottumwa, Iowa, launched a similar initiative last year and will continue it in the fall.

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“I felt like taking the cellphones away would take that focus away on the negativity of what’s going on and have them focus a little bit more on what’s going on in our building,” EMS principal Mike Davis said.

“You know the real reason why we’re here — it’s not about the [cellphones].”