It would require schools to ban public school student access to cell phones during classroom hours
Cell phone use is a convenience in the world of adults – but a scourge in schools, says Margaret Chiccarelli, of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE), which represents teachers.
“It disrupts the ability for the students using the cell phones to learn. But it also disrupts their fellow students when they see other students on cell phones,” said Chiccarelli.
She says the distractions caused by cell phones in school are not only contagious but downright dangerous – when school conflicts are often documented and then amplified online.
PAGE surveyed schoolteachers about cell phone use.
In the survey, 12% of teachers in kindergarten through second grade described cell phones as a major problem. That number jumps to nearly 27% in third through fifth grades. The cell phone problem leaps past 65% in sixth through eighth grades.
HB 340 would require schools to disallow students in eighth grade and below to access cell phones in public schools.
“It’s become a distraction not only for the students but for the teachers in the classroom who are constantly having to say ‘put the phone away,’ or are constantly hearing the beeps and the buzzes going off during class,” said State Rep. Scott Hilton (R-Peachtree Corners), the bill’s sponsor.
PAGE’s survey also says 85% of high school teachers – ninth grade and up – view cell phones as a major problem. The bill does not restrict cell phones at that age. But Hilton says that’s a logical next step.
“What we want to do is create a cell phone free culture (in grades) K-8. And eventually, those students will matriculate to high school,” he said.
Hilton predicts another bill would pass around the time those students get near graduation.
Hilton’s bill does not outlaw cell phones for children in schools. Students could keep them in their pockets or backpacks – but the law, if approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, would prevent them from getting them out during the school day.
