On the heels of Gov. Phil Murphy’s support for banning cell phones in schools, parents from the advocacy group Screen Aware Montclair are urging the school district to adopt a “bell-to-bell” ban on students’ use of cell phones in the public schools.
In his state of the state address last week, Murphy said children are “inundated with screens” and that the increase in smartphone use has coincided with a rising mental health crisis.
“Ask just about any educator, they will tell you that mobile devices are a distraction in the classroom,” Murphy said in his remarks. “They are fueling a rise in cyberbullying. And they are making it incredibly difficult for our kids, not only to learn, but to retain the substance of what they learn.”
Screen Aware Montclair
Jordan Goldberg, the mother of one child at Charles H. Bullock School and another at Renaissance at Rand Middle School, agrees. Goldberg, an organizer with Screen Aware Montclair, said the parent group wants Montclair to act before the state issues new rules.
“We’d love statewide action. We’ve love to see every school district do this because it’s the right thing for the kids. Screen Aware Montclair does not believe that Montclair needs to wait for the state bill,” Goldberg said in an interview. “That is not necessary.”
Screen Aware Montclair, she said, has provided the district with model policies from other schools. Parents plan to turn out at the Wednesday, Jan. 22, meeting to make their voices heard on the topic, Goldberg said.
Interim Superintendent Damen G. Cooper on Friday indicated the district’s work on the cell phone policy will continue.
“We are currently working on the creation of a comprehensive cell phone policy that will support our students and staff,” Cooper said in a statement through the district’s communications office. “We are aware of Governor Murphy’s announcement and this work will continue in our policy committee.”
Policy Tabled
The school board on Dec. 16 tabled an initial policy on cell phone use.
“They took it off the agenda because the draft was, frankly, inadequate,” Goldberg said. “It was vague. It did not meet the principles that we had asked for.”
Board president Mfreke Inyang did not return emailed requests for comment.
Ryan Hobler, the parent of two students, ages 9 and 6, at Bradford Elementary School, who is also an organizer with Screen Aware Montclair, said he would like to see the district provide cell phone storage for students.
The district in August postponed a program that would have used locking pouches from the company Yondr to limit students’ cell phone use.
“There should be a policy that has rules that back up the teachers and the administration, and they should provide the schools with cell phone storage, and it should be throughout the entire school day,” Hobler told Montclair Local.
With the school board considering a policy on cell phone use, he said, leadership has an opportunity to be specific about what it wants cell phone use to look like in schools. From the opening bell to the closing bell of the school day, Hobler wants students’ use of cell phones off the table.
“A bell-to-bell policy is really what I would like to see Montclair do,” he said. “I believe we’re a very strong and smart community. And I want our schools to be culturally rich, not just in the classroom but on all school grounds.”
Ramsey an Example
Montclair isn’t the first district to have tackled cell phone use. Ramsey, a Bergen County school district of about 2,600 students, recently adopted the Yondr storage system.
“Without a comprehensive school-wide system like Yondr that takes away from the individual classroom level, I fear that a cell phone ban is more of an unenforceable wish,” Ramsey Superintendent Andrew C. Matteo said in an email.
“Previously, our approach heavily depended on teachers policing student cell phone use in their classrooms through the use of cell phone holders. However, we observed inconsistencies in implementation.”
The prior approach also cut into instructional time and created antagonistic relationships between students and staff, he said.
“A system like Yondr requires a financial investment from the District,” Matteo said. “We decided that the costs were warranted given the positive benefits that we expected to come from this shift. This was supported by the research we read and our conversations with other schools.”
Status of N.J. Law
In his state of the state, Murphy indicated his support for a state Senate bill, S-3695, which requires the state Education Department to create a statewide policy that limits cell use in schools.
The measure passed the Senate 35-0 on Jan. 14, and has been referred to the Assembly Education Committee, online legislative records show. The bill states that any policy should provide “age appropriate and grade level differentiated” policies for limiting cell phone use.
New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, a former Montclair mayor and gubernatorial candidate, in a statement, commended Murphy for highlighting concerns about student cell phones. He also discussed a need for community input in developing guidelines.
“As New Jersey moves to limit the distraction that they pose during the school day, we call on the New Jersey Department of Education to issue guidelines directing districts to work with parents and educators in each community and at each school level to determine what specific policy will best serve students’ academic, safety and mental health needs,” Spiller said. “Shared input and community buy-in will help ensure the success of those policies better than any one-size-fits-all ban imposed from above.
Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news
Read: Montclair Super Says ‘You Were Heard’ on Cellphones. ‘Screen Aware’ Group Wants Strict Ban
Local: District Postpones Pilot Program to Restrict Student Cell Phone Use
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