NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Several parents told us on Wednesday afternoon their child called them from inside the school after the fatal shooting at Antioch High School.
Now, parents have some concern that in the nearby future those calls could be silenced.
Lawmakers from the the Tennessee House and Senate introduced a bill that would ban cell phones from used during class.
If passed, the law would require every school district in Tennessee to adopt a policy that implements the ban. Right now, districts currently have leeway to choose how they’d enforce it and what the ban would look like.
This means making sure students turn them off or phones could be confiscated or required to be kept in lockers.
One school district, Warren County Schools, began implementing a new policy where students would have to place their electronic devices in a pouch that can be unlocked by the magnet near the exits.
Critics of the bill said the idea sounds good until something like the tragedy at Antioch High School or even The Covenant School takes place.
“Student safety is the main point,” said State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D) Memphis. “Given the climate that we’re in with the frequency of school shootings, of these major events at our school…I think it would be ill thought of on our parts to take these phones away from children.”
Parkinson said he believes a policy should still be put in place. However, he thinks confiscating phones is a bad idea.
WSMV Investigates reporter Stacey Cameron did try to reach out to both lawmakers sponsoring the bill Rep. Scott Cepicky and Sen. Joey Hensley to see if they had any plans to amend the bill after Wednesday’s shooting.
Hensley told us that the shooting at Antioch High School was a terrible tragedy and said the bill does have an emergency clause that would allow students to use their phones in an emergency.
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