Inspired by stand-up comedians, Michigan high school will block phones with faraday bags - mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A cell phone signal-blocking technology used by big names in stand-up comedy is now getting its own spotlight at one West Michigan high school.

Administrators at the school say the tech is helping more students stay focused in class.

When Northview High School Principal Mark Thomas’ adult children began attending stand-up comedy shows in Chicago, they first brought home the concept of “faraday bags,” or bags made from conductive materials like copper and aluminum that block the wireless signals emanating from cell phones.

The bags, which stop cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS from working, are used by musicians and stand-up comedians like Dave Chappelle to improve engagement and keep joke material from being leaked.

Thomas said they’re also now keeping students off their phones at Northview High School, after the school’s administration purchased 25 to 30 bags per classroom for use this school year.

Assistant Principal Brent Dickerson said that since using the bags in class, some teachers have remarked that their rooms are now much louder because kids are having dialogue. Others have noticed an increase in assignment completion.

Tina Ely, a math teacher who’s been with the district for 30 years, said she’s seen students able to focus better and communicate more face-to-face.

“The app companies, all they’re doing is creating apps to try to get them to be addicted to their phones, and we’re just trying to help them,” she said.

Without their phones in class, Ely said “they’re actually not just making connections with content, but also with each other, and it’s building community."

Northview Senior Oscar Sanchez, 17, said it was a difficult adjustment at first, especially during the first few weeks.

“It was kind of frustrating,” he said, “but as school kept going, we became more understanding of it. This actually does help.”

At close to $4 a bag, Thomas said the initial cost to the district was around $1,500.

“We didn’t want to have students pay for one and carry it around,” he said. “We felt like the investment was important for us, and that it was a worthwhile investment.”

Instead, teachers keep the bags in their classroom, and students place their phones in them upon entering class. During transition periods and lunchtime, students are still able to use their phone.

Sanchez said typically students get around five minutes of transition time when they get into a classroom.

“(We) wrap things up, watch our last little TikToks,” he said.

Northview High School is utilizing faraday bags as a strategy to minimize cellphone use in the classroom on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.Isaac Ritchey | [email protected]

While phones are in the bags, the devices can’t receive phone calls and won’t vibrate or notify the user of an incoming text or notification from an app. They also won’t pair with Apple watches or wireless headphones.

While a cell phone ban during class isn’t a new policy at Northview, Thomas said the use of the bags has made enforcing it much easier.

Dickerson said when deciding how best to implement the use of the bags, the building administration put together a committee of teachers and student council members.

The decision for this year was that teachers get leeway on how they implement and enforce the faraday bag policy, Thomas said, with some requiring the bags be placed on desks and others utilizing bins or pouches at the front of the classroom.

All classrooms and students are required to use the bags, however, and next year, the district will adopt one uniform model it feels works best.

Thomas said the goal is to build habits - so that students are used to bagging their phones every time they come to class - similar to when silencing a cell phone at the movie theater.

Principal Mark Thomas at Northview Schools at Nortview High School in Northview on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Isaac Ritchey | [email protected]

“Everyone has different levels of self-regulation,” Thomas said of student social media use. “I think (the goal) is trying to at least make them aware.”

Sanchez said he believes the bags have increased engagement during class by removing the distraction of notifications and the ability to constantly check their phones, especially because “the velcro (on the bags) is really, really loud.”

Northview Senior Maddie Gallatin, 17, said she felt the policy was a little frustrating because she’d never had issues or had gotten in trouble for having her phone out during class.

But she conceded that there has been a noticeable increase in other students working and talking with others.

In between class periods and in the hallways, however, Gallatin said she feels there’s been an increase in phone use.

“I feel like the second we can get our phones out, it goes silent,” she said.

When asked if the district is considering expanding the use of the bags to the entire school building, Thomas said no - for two reasons.

First, “we feel like that’s not how life works,” he said. “Halls and lunches are break time… I think we’re trying to be more realistic in how we can collaborate with our students and how we work with them.”

The other reason is safety and security in school.

“In this day and age… parents want to know that those phones are still within reach,” he said.

Thomas said while he’s had groups of parents who’ve come to him and requested that cell phones be banned, there’ve also been parents concerned in the wake of school shooting events that they wouldn’t be able to reach their child in an emergency.

“I just want to know my child has access to their phone,” Thomas described them as saying.

Ely said the model in her math classrooms, where students put the faraday bags in bins on their desks, helps give an extra sense of security.

“Making them put their phones away… you’re ripping away something that they’re used to having close,” she said. “At least if it’s on their desk, they see that it’s still there… I think that gives them a little security that I’m not trying to take it away.”

Ely said she’s still seen a mixed response from students, many of whom have complained about putting their phones away, but “I think a lot of students, if they’re not joking around, know deep down (that) this is really what’s best.”

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