(The Center Square) – Leaving decisions about cellphone usage in schools up to local school districts isn’t enough for some in Ohio.
New statewide legislation, backed by Gov. Mike DeWine, would ban phones and remove local decision-making on the issue.
At a Tuesday news conference, DeWine said the time has come for phones to be banned.
The bill, he said, is “designed to ban cellphones in Ohio in our schools once and for all. It’s time to do that. We need to be sure our classrooms are now cellphone free. We all know that screentime is very, very addictive. Cellphone hazards go well beyond that. Studies consistently show that access to cellphones during school hours negatively impacts student learning and academic performance.”
It comes less than a year after DeWine signed into law a requirement that districts establish local cellphone policies. That bill unanimously passed both the House and Senate.
By July 1, more than 600 districts had established a policy – some completely banning usage, while others still allowing it.
Now, DeWine and Sen. Jane Timken, R-Canton, want to take the decision out of the hands of local districts and ban cellphone usage entirely in every public school in the state.
DeWine said attendance has improved, discipline issues have decreased and student attendance has improved since last year after some districts adopted a ban.
He also said cellphones expose children to cyberbullying and sextortion.
“Evidence clearly shows in what we’ve seen across the state that every school needs to ban the phones. It’s time for us to finish the job,” DeWine said.
Senate Bill 158 would require public schools to ban student cellphone use during the instructional day by Sept. 1, with exceptions for learning, monitoring or addressing a health concern.
“We’ve all seen since the explosion of social media and technology and cellphone use since the late 2000s that our children are more connected than ever, not to each other, but to technology,” Timken said. “We’ve seen through various social media apps that they are addicted.”
Timken said the average student is getting more than 11 notifications an hour or more than 192 notifications while children are awake.
“This does not provide a conducive learning environment and also has damaging learning effects,” Timken said.
SB158 currently is in the Senate Education Committee.
