Our Position
All Day is the Best Way
A bell-to-bell, phone-free school day in AAPS elementary, middle and high schools, with phones stored securely from the first bell to the last.
All day
Students give up access not only during instructional time, but all day, including lunch and between classes.
Locked pouches are improving students’ focus, mental health, and social interactions, and freeing teachers to teach rather than police phones.
— Districts nationwide, from Novi & Dearborn Heights to New Haven, Montgomery, and all of LA Unified
Secure device storage
Phones, smart watches, and other personal electronics go in locked pouches or phone lockers: inaccessible, not just out of sight.
WHY GO ALL DAY?
Advantages of All-Day Phone-Free Over Classroom-Only Bans
The research is in. Stricter policies produce better outcomes — for students, teachers, and school culture.
90 minutes
avg phone use per school day
JAMA Pediatrics
6.4 %
test score lift after school ban
London School of Economics
2x
depression risk for heavy social media users (ages 12–15)
National Institutes of Health
82%
of parents don't want phones used during school
Screenagers Survey
Mental Health
Protect kids from social-media scrolling, constant notifications, dopamine crashes, and ongoing anxiety and loneliness.
Safety & Security
Reduce cyberbullying and phone-organized fights. And per NASRO — the nation’s leading school-safety experts — students are much safer without phones during rare active-shooter events.
Friendship & Social Skills
Kids act like kids, not zombies. Eyes are up, not down. They talk, laugh, play games, and build face-to-face friendships.
Academics
Removing access between classes cuts task-switching and constant distraction, so students can actually focus on learning.
Teacher Morale
Teachers stop policing phones at the start of every period. They regain time and energy for teaching and engaging students.
Sources: JAMA Pediatrics 2026 · London School of Economics · National Institutes of Health · Screenagers / Away For The Day survey · Angela Duckworth’s “Phones in Focus” study (68,000+ educators)
What This Looks Like at Every Level
High Schools
AAPS high schools have implemented classroom bans, required by Michigan law. All-day goes further: lock the phone on entry, store it, unlock on exit. Classroom bans reduce phones during class, but only all-day policies end them at lunch and between classes.
Middle Schools
Most AAPS middle schools use an “out-of-sight” approach: phones in backpacks or lockers, still accessible and tempting. As one teacher put it, “Phones in backpacks end up in pockets… and then in hands.” Inaccessible storage is harder to break and eases the burden on staff.
Elementary Schools
Phones are less common here but still an issue. AAPS has implemented a bell-to-bell restriction, but schools can still make them inaccessible cheaply: pencil pouches or envelopes kept in the front office, or a small number of phone lockers.
VOICES FROM OUR COMMUNITY
What Parents and Teachers are Saying
Come Find Your People
Wherever you are in your family’s journey with technology, you belong here.