Earlier this year, Hoover High School launched the Hoover Mental Health Movement, a school-wide effort to address concerns and provide greater supports for the health and well-being of their students. It reflects a national discussion about the mental health of young people, including the impact of social media and the addiction to cell phones.
In fact, last year the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued an advisory about social media and the risk of harm it poses to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. As the Surgeon General noted:
“Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”
One aspect of the Mental Health Movement at Hoover is a new cell phone policy, banning their use during the school day. Is it making a difference? While only six weeks into the school year, there are some positive signs which Superintendent Ian Roberts shared at the most recent meeting of the Des Moines School Board.
“Although it is still too early to say with certainty the overall impact Hoover’s pilot program has had on student outcomes, there are some early indicators that this shift in Hoover’s cell phone policy and their mental health program has gotten some celebratory results,” said Dr. Ian Roberts.
Some of those results include:
- Attendance so far for the 2024-25 school year is 86.16%, compared to 77.93% in 2023-24;
- Grades of As or Bs went from 43.36% in 2023-24-to 52.23% to date this year;
- While the number of out-of-school suspensions only had a very small decline, it is a trend in the right direction.
In addition to the numbers, there have been numerous anecdotal observations about the new cell phone policy at Hoover. One teacher commented: “This is what I always dreamt teaching would be.” A student said: “I now know my teachers’ and friends’ names.” And parents have witnessed changes at home, such as less screen time by their children. At the same time, some concerns have been raised to consider, from issues relating to student safety to the convenience of being able to communicate with children during the school day.
While the work underway at Hoover has positive early signs, the Superintendent said more data will be gathered and reviewed around the end of the first semester before deciding whether to expand to more schools.
“As a district, we remain committed to a complete evaluation and analysis in January of 2025 of the work underway at Hoover,” added Dr. Roberts. “Those findings will inform our decision about a wider district-wide initiative.”
