Digital Wellbeing in Koochiching Classrooms

An exciting new tool has debuted in select International Falls classrooms, and it isn’t particularly cutting-edge or digitally advanced. Rather, it’s a revamped version of lockers, a familiar student essential. Except these scaled down lockers are designed to fit in every classroom and hold just one item—cell phones.

Cell phone lockers offer a promising opportunity for educators, who have long been wrestling with the challenges of holding students accountable to classroom rules on phone use. Tara Besch, a Health Educator with Koochiching County Public Health and Human Services, was first introduced to these lockers at a recent staff appreciation event at Falls High School. Teachers were a buzz with excitement, and one eagerly led Besch back to her classroom to show off the new addition.

Those first phone lockers were provided by theKAPE (Kids Active in Prevention Education) Coalition, purchased through aDrug-Free Communities Prevention Grant.

Reactions were overwhelmingly positive. Teachers, students, parents, and administrators agreed this solution could work for everyone. But, so far, the lockers were only in a few classrooms. Besch wondered whether SHIP (the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership) funds could be leveraged to expand the program—and indeed they could.Supported by SHIP, Besch is now partnering with the Koochiching Family Collaborative, whose members include district superintendents, to bring phone lockers to classrooms countywide.

The lockers are transparent, allowing students to see their phone while keeping it out of reach. This can relieve students’ anxieties about phones being stolen or the information on them being accessed. Each phone slot has its own key, empowering students to control their property while adhering to classroom rules. Keeping phones present in the classroom can also ease parental worries about being able to reach their child in case of emergency. And it gives teachers flexibility to incorporate phones into activities like research and interactive polls.

Setting boundaries around our cell phone use can positively impact physical and mental health, improve sleep and mood, lower stress levels, and increase productivity. While phones are an essential tool, maintaining balance in our digital lives is a challenge for all of us: adults and kids alike. These phone lockers are one way to support the development of healthy screen use habits, while contributing to a positive classroom environment—a community driven solution that aligns with SHIP’s mission.‍

by Jenna Olson, Public Health Communications Coordinator,Carlton-Cook-Lake-St. Louis Community Health Board