By Michael J. McKenna, Headmaster
September 17, 2025
At Mars Hill Academy, we don’t chase trends—we pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue. That’s why when the Ohio Christian Educational Network (OCEN) invited schools across the state to sign the Covenant for Phone-Free Christian Schools, joining was a natural step. It wasn’t a new direction for us; it was an affirmation of what we have believed and practiced for years.
From our founding, Mars Hill Academy has sought to cultivate wise and virtuous graduates who love what is true, good, and beautiful. That kind of formation requires attention, conversation, and presence. These essentials for learning are quickly eroded in a device-saturated environment. The classroom thrives on dialogue, on curiosity, and on students engaging not just with books and ideas but with one another and with their teachers. Phones, quite simply, disrupt that.
Research increasingly affirms what classical, Christian educators have long observed: pervasive cell phone usage hinders intellectual growth, undermines social development, and corrodes spiritual formation. Arlene Pellicane in her recent book, Calm, Cool, and Connected: 5 Digital Habits for a More Balanced Life points to the profound toll that unfiltered access to screens has taken on today’s youth. Yet her insights also give reason for hope: intentional collaboration among parents, schools, and churches can begin to restore the conditions our children need to flourish. We were especially blessed this year to have Mrs. Pellicane speak directly to our Rhetoric students during the 2025 Worldview Summit, “Technology and Media: Navigating the Digital Landscape,” where she encouraged them to think critically about their own digital habits and the kind of people God is calling them to be.
This is why Mars Hill Academy has maintained a phone-free school day. Our students are free to be fully present—in conversation at lunch, in spirited debate in class, and in joyful play on the playground. They are not distracted by the constant buzz of notifications or tempted by the endless scroll of social media. Instead, they are forming habits of attentiveness, self-control, and genuine relationship.
As one of the original signatories of the OCEN Covenant, Mars Hill Academy joined 22 other like-minded schools across Ohio in taking this stand. But what makes our participation meaningful is not merely the signature—it is the daily reality lived out in our hallways and classrooms.
We do this because we are entrusted with the souls of children, each made in the image of God. And we take seriously the call to “train them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Protecting their time and attention from the distractions of screens is one way we honor that responsibility.
In the end, the Covenant is not about what we are against, but what we are for: students who are present, engaged, and ready to grow into wise and virtuous disciples of Christ. That has been Mars Hill Academy’s commitment from the beginning—and it will remain our commitment for the years ahead.