CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - Proposed legislation could make it that when the school bell rings, the phones won’t.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell recently introduced a plan saying a ban on phones in schools would improve mental health and learning environments for students.
The proposed legislation wouldn’t allow students in Massachusetts public schools to have access to their cellphones, tablets, or other personal electronic devices during school hours.
“There are a lot of schools across the state [that] have amazing practices in place that work well,” said Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Russell Johnston. “I appreciate the push from the Attorney General to minimize that interaction between students [and] cell phones, so there can me more interaction among students, and students with their teachers.”
According to a national study, 72% of high school teachers cite cell phone use as major problems in class.
With the proposed ban, students could place their phones in pouches at the beginning of the school day or drop them in slots before a class.
Schools in Lowell, Methuen and Brockton have already implemented similar bans.
“[Going] to a school where students are free from the distraction of a cell phone, they are so much more engaged with each other,” said Johnston. “With their teachers, and their learning.”
Not everyone is onboard with the proposed legislation.
“If the kids are good, why would you just take the phones away?,” said Eddy Tejada, father of a fourth grade student. “That makes no sense. It’s essential for him to have it in case of any kind of emergency, in case he has to reach me. He can just tell his teacher ‘can I call my dad?'”
Libby Fox disagrees.
“I think, now, kids are getting phones at a young age, and from someone who actively is going [to be working] in schools, and working with kids currently, the attention level is so much lower than I think it was when I was a child,” said Fox, an educator. “I think that’s from having phones at a young age and bringing them in schools.”
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