More and more districts across western Pennsylvania are going phone-free all day, according to a new survey just released by U.S. Representative Chris Deluzio (D) of Fox Chapel.
Congressman Deluzio got responses from 48 school districts in the area he represents for District 17 in Allegheny and Beaver counties.
He found that the majority, 64% of districts, have a smartphone policy but not a total ban. Six districts have no cell phone policy, and 11 districts, 23%, ban phones in all schools from the beginning to the end of the school day. They do that in different ways, including locking them in pouches or collecting the phones when kids enter school, like they do at Sto-Rox High School.
“You’ve got a big variety of approaches from the schools,” Deluzio said of the survey results, “but I see something where you’ve got districts like Stow Rox and a private school like Shadyside Academy both implementing bell-to-bell school bans on smartphones. That tells me something. That tells me that this is not just for one kind of school or one kind of community. This seems to be working where people and administrators do it in a range of schools. That makes me think there’s something to this, this research we’re seeing of getting phones out of schools can really help kids.”
Deluzio also surveyed residents in his district, and of the more than 700 who responded, 76% felt schools should ban cell phones in classrooms through high school.
Congressman Deluzio said that through his research, he believes schools should ban phones the entire day, including lunch and in hallways. He is hopeful Pennsylvania state lawmakers will pass a state ban on phones in schools.
You can learn more about how local schools are implementing phone-free school policies at Kidsburgh.org.
