In a bid to curb classroom distractions, legislation aimed at restricting student cellphone usage or any electronic device during school hours unanimously passed the Senate on Monday. Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell says cellphones in the classroom are a big distraction for students.
“The problem has been even if it’s in his backpack you can hear it, you can see the vibration, you know it’s in there. There’s this continual distraction.”
The bill bans students from carrying cellphones “on his person” while in the classroom. Mizell says her bill would require students to put their cellphones in designated places during school hours.
“It’s similar to like a over the door shoe bag. The teacher puts numbers on the pockets. The kids drops their phones in and turned off. Depending on what the teachers rules are they can pick them up and have them between classes or not.”
School leaders have the authority to enforce the policy but they are not. During committee meeting, Mizell says her bill provides “backup” for teachers and staff to carry out the rule. When questioned about concerns of students contacting parents if a major event happened during school hours…
“The safety experts say the worse thing that could happen would be 30 kids all trying to get on their phones in the event of something happening. They’d much rather the kids listen to the teacher and all follow one set of directions.”
The bill heads to the House for more discussion.
