RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTV) – A North Carolina bill aimed at protecting students’ internet safety in schools passed both House and Senate and is now awaiting Governor Josh Stein’s signature.
House Bill 959, known as the Protecting Students in a Digital Age bill, was scheduled to go to Stein on Friday, June 27.
Why more districts are pushing for cell phone bans
The bill would prohibit students from having cell phones turned on during instructional time. Exceptions would include a teacher using it for educational purposes or in case of an emergency, if the phone use is in a student’s IEP or Section 504 plan, or if it’s to manage a student’s health.
Several districts in the Charlotte Metro area have similar restrictions in place already.
The bill would also require local boards of education to enact internet safety policies, something already required at the state level. Some of those policies include limiting student access to age-appropriate materials, protecting student security when using electronic communication, prevent third party access to programs that do not protect against accessing and sending out student information, preventing access to social media and specifically banning TikTok.
Board of Education employees would also be prohibited from using TikTok for anything related to their job or school-related extracurricular activities.
Another part of the bill would require all students to learn about the effects of social media on health and other information like maintaining personal security and identifying human trafficking through the internet.
Similar bills have already passed in several states across the country. Restrictions in South Carolina went into place in 2024.
If passed, the bill would go into effect at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
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