How an Orange County school got students to connect without devices

Orange County, Florida – After Orange County Public Schools approved a new cell phone policy that prevents students from using them during the school day, Timber Creek High School has found ways to keep students engaged without phones.

Instead of playing on their phones, two days a week Timber Creek students can go out to their backyard, listen to music, DJ or test their skills on the pickleball court or by playing spiked ball.

TCHS Principal Marc Wasko said these activities help children connect with each other.

“You have a lot of kids who really may not be able to connect with someone who doesn’t know that someone has those interests,” Wasko said.

While OCPS does not yet have statistics that show the impact of the cellphone policy across all schools in the district, Wasko said he believes there is a correlation between the new policy and changes in student behavior at Timber Creek.

“We saw in class that they were more attentive,” Wasko said. “Teachers said they could actually talk in class. “Also, discipline has gone down because you don’t have kids on social media and you can’t see if someone is talking about (anything) about them, or someone got the latest, greatest thing and is making fun of someone who may not have it.”

Luis Luque is senior president at Timber Creek High School. He said he has noticed changes in his life since the cell phone policy was implemented.

“I definitely see an improvement in my grades, like definitely not using my phone and I just see that I’m going to benefit from it overall,” Luque said.

Student Council President Lauren Davidson said she also sees positive effects.

“Almost every day when we put out pickleball, spike ball, we always see kids playing, and even if we don’t let them out, they come in and say, ‘Oh, are you playing spike ball today?’ They love it,” Davidson said.

Both Davidson and Luque said that while they have personally noticed some benefits, they also believe there is room for improvement.

“Maybe this can be corrected over lunch,” Luque said. “Maybe we could do this over lunch or during a break.”

Davidson expressed the challenge of not carrying her phone while playing at school.

“It’s hard when we have so many activities, you want to take a picture of your friend, or when we have homecoming week or spirit days, we really want to take pictures,” Davidson said.

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