Navajo Prep considers nighttime cellphone lockup to address student sleep deprivation, wellness
By Donovan Quintero
Special to the Times
FARMINGTON – Navajo Preparatory School leaders are preparing to test a new residential policy that would require students to turn in their cellphones at night, a move administrators say is driven by rising concerns about sleep deprivation and student wellness.
While a ban could improve sleep quality, it has raised immediate questions from trustees, students and parents about safety, emergencies and a child’s ability to reach family in moments of fear or distress.
Pilot program in the dorms
During a Feb. 20 board meeting in Farmington, Navajo Prep staff described a pilot program they hope to start March 1 and continue through the end of the school year that would limit overnight phone use in dorms. Under the proposal, students would submit phones at 10:30 p.m., store them in a secured charging system overnight and retrieve them in the morning.
“This is our first step in really addressing the sleep side of it with our students,” said Keith Neil, the school’s associate head of school for academics and operations. “Students will submit their phones at 10:30 each evening. And we have purchased charging stations for the phone. So they’ll be locked. It’s a thirty-two-case charging station.”
To read the full article, please see the Feb. 26, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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