Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Baltimore are increasingly limiting cell phone use in an effort to strengthen learning and relationships between students and teachers. (Christopher Gunty/CR Staff)

Catholic school cell phones policies aim to boost focus, well-being, real connection


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Special to the Catholic Review Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Schools

Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Baltimore are increasingly limiting cell phone use in an effort to strengthen learning and relationships between students and teachers.

Cell phones tend to shut down meaningful communication. “They don’t promote engagement and the interaction that students and teachers should have,” said Danielle Hladky, director of communications and marketing at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson.

Limiting phone use is also about respect, Hladky said. Calvert Hall’s policies aim to encourage direct, one-on-one interaction instead of the multitasking often seen with technology.

The school enforces an “all time” cell phone policy. Now in its 11th year, the policy bans phone use inside classrooms and buildings. Students may only use phones outside. Devices seen or heard indoors are confiscated until the end of the day. Violators typically receive six days of detention. The school is “very serious” about cell phone use and texting, she said.

Maryvale Preparatory School in Lutherville adopted a similar policy. Jessica Randisi, head of student life and dean of students, said the school introduced a “phone-free Monday through Friday” policy after piloting it during the 2024–25 school year. Students could self-monitor phone use with the understanding that a “turn in” program would be enforced if necessary. The pilot succeeded and was fully implemented in March.

“The students expressed some angst about this, but overall, it has gone well,” Randisi said.

At St. John the Evangelist Catholic School in Severna Park, principal Glenna Blessing said students turn in phones and smartwatches, retrieving them later in the day.

“By removing smart technology, we’re able to work on the social well-being of students,” Blessing said. “They must collaborate and look each other in the eye.”

Cell phone policies are not only helping students stay focused, they also address safety and mental health concerns.

“Research shows a clear link between the rise of cell phone usage and the increase in teenage anxiety, depression and numerous other mental health concerns,” Randisi said.

The distraction factor is also significant. In spring 2024, Maryvale surveyed its students using a tool from the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools. The results showed 40 percent of students admitted to texting while doing schoolwork, and 39 percent said they used social media at the same time.

International trends

  • In 2018, France enacted a law banning mobile phones, tablets for students aged 3 to 15 (primary and middle school).
  • In 2021, China’s Ministry of Education prohibited students from bringing mobile phones to school without written parental consent.

    In 2022, Italy extended its existing bans on mobile phones in primary and middle schools to include high schools, allowing exceptions only for educational use or students with special needs.

  • As of September 2024, seven U.S. states have implemented statewide policies that ban or restrict cellphone use in K-12 public schools

Read More Schools

Catholic schools are building for the future

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Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Baltimore are investing in new classrooms, athletic facilities, gathering spaces and student commons designed to strengthen academics, faith formation and community life. Here are some examples of the larger projects underway.

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Continue Reading Catholic schools are building for the future

Why some Catholic schools are going low-tech in the age of AI

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Last year, the parochial school stopped providing digital devices to students, instead offering occasional computer time through shared computer carts. “We’ve found kids have actually learned more, they are retaining more,” he said. “I think we learn better from human beings than we do from machines.”

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Continue Reading Why some Catholic schools are going low-tech in the age of AI

USCCB’s education director reflects on Catholic school landscape as school year begins

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With a new school year on the horizon, OSV News asked John DeJak, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Catholic Education, to provide an overview of Catholic education in America. As a former teacher and administrator who has served in both diocesan and independent schools since the late 1990s, DeJak is uniquely positioned to assess the state of the nation’s approximately 5,800 Catholic schools, which educate nearly 1.7 million students. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Sister Patricia Anne Bossle, D.C., former president of Seton Keough High School, dies at 86

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A funeral Mass for Daughter of Charity Sister Patricia Anne Bossle, a former leader of The Seton Keough High School in Baltimore, was offered July 7 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Seton in Emmitsburg. Sister Pat died July 1 at Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg. She was 86.

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Continue Reading Sister Patricia Anne Bossle, D.C., former president of Seton Keough High School, dies at 86

Navigating the leap to high school

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Endings can be hard and beginnings can be scary. No one knows that better than the students who are leaving the familiarity of their current schools and heading off to high school in the fall. Although that transition can be daunting and filled with concerns, people who have already gone through it said it doesn’t have to be.

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Continue Reading Navigating the leap to high school

Meet four shining lights from the Class of 2026

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Extraordinary students graduated from Catholic high schools across the Archdiocese of Baltimore at the end of this academic year. The Catholic Review highlights four of them.

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