From California to Mississippi, meet the visionary leaders who are reimagining student-centered phone policies in middle and high schools to balance learning, safety, and wellbeing, with youth voices leading the way.
NEW YORK, July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, Young Futures unveiled their Call Me Maybe Cohort, a group of six nonprofits and school districts working alongside students to create and implement responsible solutions for managing phones in schools. Supported by Pinterest, these grantees, named Young Futures (YF) Innovators, will pilot strategies—from policy co-design to digital literacy curriculum—that balance learning needs with teens' (and families') safety and connectivity concerns.
The cohort was selected from 51 applicants who responded to a national rapid response open call for proposals. Their solutions address a pressing issue that was underscored by findings from our Youth Listening Tour, which surveyed 42 high school students. While 88% of them reported school phone policies exist, only half rated them as effective. (Young Futures Youth Listening Tour, 2024).
This gap signals a need for more relevant, youth-informed approaches that not only set practical boundaries but also support digital literacy, focus, and social connection in today's classrooms. Together, these YF Innovators offer fresh, realistic paths for rethinking how phones show up in school life.
"There's no one-size-fits-all solution to phone use in schools," said Katya Hancock, CEO of Young Futures. "Even in states with statewide mandates—like New York and Utah—schools and districts are still on the hook to design implementation plans that address a complex web of needs. Educators, families, and young people themselves need more support—and they need solutions that actually work. That means approaches that build digital literacy, foster student agency, and lead to real buy-in. We're proud to support a cohort exploring diverse, youth-informed strategies to meet this moment."
The Work In Action: Six Projects and the YF Innovators leading them…
- Challenge Success (Stanford, CA) – Kimberly Tsai Cawkwell: As Director of Programs, Cawkwell is leading a research-based initiative to help three schools develop student-centered cell phone policies. Her team will facilitate collaborative discussions among students, teachers, and families to create policies supporting wellbeing and engagement. They'll compile their findings into a practical toolkit for nationwide use, emphasizing equity and adolescent development in policy-making.
- Colorado Education Initiative (Denver, CO) – Emily Love, Chief of Research and Development & Marcus Bratton, Senior Director of Implementation & Partnership)( are training student teams across 13 districts in Colorado to design and implement school phone policies. Teams will prototype ideas, present proposals to their district leadership and school boards in December 2025 and implement approved plans in early 2026. The initiative focuses on creating sustainable, student-owned solutions rather than top-down mandates.
- Health Connected (Palo Alto, CA) – Led by CEO Alex LeeNatali, the Health Connected team will engage teen interns over the summer to co-create cell phone policies and guide rollout plans alongside a neuroscience-based digital literacy curriculum set to launch in four partner schools next school year. This initiative combines policy development with education about technology's impact on adolescent brains, aiming to foster intrinsic motivation for balanced phone use rather than relying solely on restrictions.
- Holmes County Consolidated School District (Lexington, MS) – In rural Mississippi's Holmes County Consolidated School District, Dr. Jennifer Wilson, Superintendent of Schools, and Lee Henry Coats, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, are launching Phones Down, Heads Up—a student-led initiative combining Yondr pouches with digital literacy lessons. The program trains student ambassadors to model responsible use while addressing the unique challenges of phone dependence in their community, where devices often serve as vital lifelines for transportation and family communication.
- School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) In Philadelphia, Daniel Merin, Assistant Director of the Office of School Climate and Culture (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), is training student and teacher ambassadors to create and implement phone policies through a restorative lens. His program, "Respect Our Phones," emphasizes understanding over punishment, particularly for immigrant youth and working students, while creating multimedia campaigns to build schoolwide buy-in for more mindful technology use.
- The Policy Project (Salt Lake City, UT) –Emily Bell McCormick, Founder & President, and Lindsay Butrum, Policy Implementation & Grants Manager of The Policy Project (Salt Lake City, Utah), are tackling the "what now" of policy implementation following the passage of SB178, a new law requiring schools across the state to develop policies on personal electronic device use. Their team is working in partnership with the Utah State Board of Education, district leaders, school educators, and students statewide to develop practical implementation tools and provide sub-grants to support policy implementation. This initiative serves as a critical sandbox for understanding the varied needs of schools across Utah, offering tailored support to diverse districts.
This October, the Call Me Maybe Cohort will join Young Futures' five-month Academy, becoming part of a vibrant, national peer community of leaders all working to tackle this issue in their own unique contexts and ways. The experience begins with a retreat in Boulder, Colorado, where YF Innovators will participate in expert-led Masterclasses and start building a strong community together, sharing their approaches and drawing support from each other and the YF team.
"We're inspired by how this cohort centers student voice in a significant challenge that has largely fallen to educators to address," said Sierra Fox-Woods, Director of Programs at Young Futures. "Through the Academy, they'll lean on one another for both practical support in implementing their projects and moral support as they navigate rapidly evolving rules around phone use in schools."
The work of these YF Innovators comes at a critical time, as schools nationwide race to implement phone policies, driven by growing pressure from caregivers and educators. Their student-centered models offer ways to transform not just classroom dynamics, but also how schools nationwide engage students as partners in shaping their learning environments.
With the loudest voices in the debate around phones in schools coming from policymakers, educators, and parents, Pinterest recognized the need to recenter on those who are most impacted: young people themselves. Pinterest supported Young Futures in developing the Call Me Maybe challenge to intentionally focus on the unique experiences and expertise of young people in order to arrive at thoughtful, balanced solutions for addressing phones in schools.
"At Pinterest, we believe technology should enhance learning while protecting students' wellbeing," said Alise Marshall, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at Pinterest. "We're proud to support these YF Innovators as they develop balanced, youth-informed approaches to phone use that schools nationwide can learn from."
For more information about the Call Me Maybe Cohort and their initiatives, visit https://www.youngfutures.org/innovators/.
Media Contact
Brooke Messaye, Young Futures, 1 3232406653, [email protected], https://www.youngfutures.org/
SOURCE Young Futures
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