Iowa school to prohibit phones on campus to tackle student mental health needs

DES MOINES, Iowa (KABC) — An Iowa high school is exploring new ways to address students’ mental health needs by limiting technology use in the classroom.

Hoover High School in Des Moines will ban cell phones on campus, including headphones, starting next school year.

School officials say they decided to take the measure to improve students’ mental health after seeing an increase in anxiety and depression.

“I feel like a lot of my mental health issues have definitely been exacerbated by cell phone use because cell phones are such a distraction,” student Kayden Walker said.

According to one report: Gen Z mobile phone users The average screen time per day is around 7 hours.

“One of the things we have to do for our students is reimagine school without cell phones as something new for them,” Assistant Principal Rob Randazzo said.

Schools are also encouraging and asking parents to help prohibit their children under the age of 16 from using social media.