Sign the petition in support of phone-free middle schools!

The Cherry Creek School District in Aurora, Colorado is one of the best school districts in the state. According to statistics, ratings, and opinions from students and parents, niche.com ranks the CCSD #1 for best school districts for athletes, #2 for best places to teach in Colorado, and #3 for best school districts in Colorado.

My children are lucky to attend school in this district since 2015. As of March 2026, I have one in elementary school, two in middle school, and one in high school. 

I am a Colorado native, a Columbine High School graduate and survivor, and a university graduate with a B.A. in Human Development. As a former professional photographer of 15 years, I also support modern advances of technology and using them wisely to enhance and enrich education, business, creativity, wholesome entertainment, and connectivity.

I have experienced both the positive and negative effects of smartphones and social media. When I got my first smartphone in 2010, I was already a college graduate, a wife, and a mother. I had a good sense of self, maturity, socialization, and values, and even so, I still experienced negative side effects of smartphone use, including addiction, isolation, anxiety, comparison, misinformation, and distraction.

Imagine combating these forces as a young, developing pre-teen in middle school.

Current studies are proving that adolescents nationwide are in a mental health crisis. Major depressive episodes among American teens have more than doubled since 2010 (see “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt and the latest research and resources). Educational performance among teens across over 30 nations has also been in decline over the last decade. New research suggests that the explanation for why this happened in many countries at the same time is that the “play-based childhood” was replaced by the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010's. Specifically, children and adolescents began to spend much more time on smartphones, social media, video games, and pornography, and much less time doing healthy activities such as face-to-face interactions with friends and family, sleep, exercise, and reading books.

Our middle schoolers are ages 11 to 14. They are experiencing rapid brain development and hormone changes. Their school environment ought to be free from the distraction of texting, social media, and behind-the-screen drama, with their eyes open to the world and people around them. 

In the Cherry Creek School District, not all middle schoolers carry smartphones, but those who do are allowed to use them for personal use at different times of the school day, depending on the principal’s implementation of their own cell phone policy. You can read the CCSD Student Conduct Manual section titled “Student Use of Electronic Communication Devices" that was last revised in August of 2014, over a decade ago.

For example, my daughter’s middle school bans smartphones in the classroom and during passing periods, but smartphones are allowed during lunch and recess. Lunch is 23 minutes, while recess is 13 minutes. These few precious minutes are invaluable for our pre-teens to interact with each other, free-play, and be together outside or sit down at a meal without the distraction of texting, gaming, and videos. 

My daughter does not have a smartphone, but because smartphones are allowed at lunch and recess, she sits alone while many girls wear headphones and watch videos.

Our children’s developing brains are creating new habits that will be hard to break as they grow. Is this what playtime and mealtime should look like?

The average teen gets 237 phone notifications a day on their phones, according to this Common Sense Media study — with a quarter coming in during the school day.

Schools are a sanctuary of learning and relationship building, a place where students discover their creative passions and become motivated to work and serve in their communities, homes, and abroad. Their capacity for growth is limitless, and yet the constant pull toward a smartphone can be a hindrance to their potential.

If a parent or caregiver needs to contact their student, they can call or email the front office, their students' teachers, counselor, or principal. 

In the case of an emergency, such as the one I survived at Columbine High School before smartphones existed, I know first hand that what saved my life was not a smartphone, but instead a hero teacher, a classroom of students who stayed together and prayed together, and the SWAT team that got us out. If there were hundreds of kids carrying a smartphone, it would not not necessarily make a scary situation safer. It may cause students to look down, text, and take videos, becoming inattentive to first responder direction, unaware of those who need help, creating further confusion and chaos. 

I believe that we can rise above this epidemic and be smarter than a smartphone. We have the data, wisdom, senses, conscience, and clarity that algorithms and artificial intelligence will never have.

It would be wise and courageous to delay constant access to this addictive and powerful device.

Let's nurture our middle schoolers need to learn, play, get creative, and notice the people around them. 

A district-wide phone-free policy would bless our children and better support the Cherry Creek School District’s core values of Equity, Growth mindset, Whole Wellbeing, Relationships, and Engagement. 

We need like-minded parents, teachers, and staff who know the data and have the courage to stand for our children's mental health and well being. 

A first-step would be to implement an "out of sight" policy, where phones are kept inside backpacks or lockers during class, passing period, lunch, and recess.   

Sign the petition now to support phone-free middle schools.

Thank you!

Update: On October 31, 2024, local news reported that the Colorado attorney general is offering $50K for school districts to implement cellphone restrictions or bans. See the article here.