ESSEX, Md. — ‘Off and Away, Every School, Every Day.’
That’s the new anti-cellphone campaign in Baltimore County Public Schools.
BCPS is doubling down on restricting the use of cellphones, smartwatches and other electronic devices by students during the school day.
No cellphones for students in Baltimore County. Hear from administrators as they speak on the anti-cellphone campaign
“We have implemented a policy that best supports our students and our learning environments,” says C. Michelle Anderson, principal of Eastern Technical High School in Essex. “So, students have expectations of proper use within all of our classrooms.”
In high schools like Eastern Tech, they can be used during structured periods at the teacher’s discretion, like using the calculator app during math class.
“Students are not expected to be able to use their cellphone for any other purpose but for instructional reasons within the classroom,” Anderson says.
County schools’ Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers said in her back-to-school readiness conference last week that the updated policy resulted from a pilot program BCPS conducted in more than a dozen schools in the 2024-25 school year.
“It was a totally different atmosphere,” Dr. Rogers recalls of her visits to the classes in the pilot program. “Students were speaking with each other. They were speaking and engaging with the teacher. Teachers reported that they were able to engage with students a lot more.”
It also addresses concerns parents may have about access in case of an emergency.
“We learned that having the phones not far away from the students, where they could get to them if there was an emergency, and build in certain appropriate times for phone use, was a win-win,” Dr. Rogers says.
Parents should check with their child’s teacher or visit their school website to make sure they know the rules. BCPS also has a short video you can watch.
