Colorado school districts will soon be able to apply for grants of up to $50,000 to help their students reduce cell phone use during the school day.
State Attorney General Phil Weiser announced the “Smartphone Challenge Initiative” Friday in the library of Grand Junction High School. The program is funded with money from the state’s $31.7 million lawsuit settlement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc.
The initiative is the second school district grant program aimed at improving student mental health funded with Juul settlement dollars. In June, Weiser announced a $20 million mental health grant program for school districts. Applications for that program are set to open in mid-October. In addition, Weiser recently announced 30 grants — also funded with Juul settlement money — to help youth quit vaping.
Weiser said in an interview with Chalkbeat that many schools don’t have policies on phone use, or don’t enforce the ones they do have.
“We want schools to face this reality that phones, in many cases, are detrimental to learning and harmful, when kids are on these apps, to mental health,” he said.
A recent Chalkbeat survey of Colorado’s 20 largest school districts found that six have adopted stricter cell phone policies in the last two years. Six others, including Denver, Jeffco, and Aurora, have no district cell phone policies.
Educators told Chalkbeat that besides being a chronic distraction in class, smartphones can be a vehicle for students to buy or sell drugs, bully others, and orchestrate fights.
About 95% of American teens own or have access to a smartphone, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center report. YouTube is the most popular app among teens, with TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram close behind.
Weiser said the Smartphone Challenge doesn’t envision one particular solution to rampant cell phone use, but rather encourages schools to experiment with different strategies.
“We’re challenging them to come up with a range of different policy options, enforcement options, cultural improvements,” he said.
Weiser said the new grant program was announced in Mesa County Valley District 51 to acknowledge the district’s efforts to cut cell phone use among students. A policy adopted for this school year bans cell phones all day in the district’s elementary and middle schools and bans them during class time in high schools.
In addition to awarding grants, the Smartphone Challenge will collect data this fall from school districts statewide on cell phone policies and needs. School districts must participate in that survey to be eligible for a grant.
A spokesperson for Weiser’s office said Smartphone Challenge grants will go out in early 2025 and that officials haven’t yet decided the number of grants that will be awarded. Once the grant projects are complete, the attorney general’s office will release a white paper sharing best practices for reducing student phone use.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
