ESSEXVILLE, Mich. (WJRT) – Michigan lawmakers are introducing legislation to help cut down on distractions in schools.
House Bill 5921, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) would require districts to have a policy limiting cell phone use for students.
It comes after several Mid-Michigan districts have introduced similar policies over the last few years, including Essexville-Hampton Public Schools last April.
“There was some questions and some concerns when the policy was first getting implemented and I ended up meeting with [students] just shortly after the implementation. The first comment that a student made was ‘I can’t believe how loud the cafeteria is because people are actually having conversations.,'” said Superintendent Dr. Justin Ralston.
At Essexville-Hampton, middle school students have what they call an ‘Away for the Day’ policy. Students cannot carry their phones during the day. They must be stored in a locker and turned off.
“Really to date I have only received emails and phone calls from parents about this policy that have been positive,” said Dr. Ralston.
The proposed legislation is slightly stricter. Under the bill, middle school students would be treated similar to those at Cramer Middle School in Essexville. However, elementary age students would not be able to have communication devices at all, and high school students would not be able to use them during instructional time, something that is not the case in Essexville.
“We had about a hundred percent of our Cramer staff was on board with the policy of Away for a Day. It’s a bit more mixed at the high school level,” said the Superintendent. “Students are getting older, and so we have continued to support a different policy for our high school students to be able to give them more control and autonomy over those decisions.”
Nationally, teachers support some form of regulation on cell phones. 90% would support a ban during instructional periods and 83% support prohibiting them during the entire school day according to the NEA.
Still, Dr. Ralston is not so sure a statewide ban is the answer. He says each community has to find what works best for them.
“We have had a phenomenal process in the way in which this has rolled out. Our teachers have supported it. Our school board supports it, and overwhelmingly our parents support it,” he said. “I hesitate to be able to make any comment or decision about another school community because the way in which we went about this absolutely works for our community.”
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education Wednesday and has a long way to go before it becomes a law.
It’s not the first time lawmakers have tried to institute a ban. In 2022, Republicans tried to pass a bill that would require schools to prohibit cell phone use during the day, but it died in committee.
