HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania schools could soon be phone-free properties.
The State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would require K-12 schools to implement a bell-to-bell phone-free policy next school year. Bell-to-bell bans generally prohibit students from using cellphones on school grounds at public and parochial schools, including during homeroom, lunch and recess.
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It passed nearly unanimously — just one senator voted against the bill. It now heads to the State House for consideration. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) already promised to sign it if it makes it to his desk.
Lawmakers say it’s elementary, a way to get students focused on what’s happening in school and not on their screens. And a Midstate superintendent said it works.
“I actually saw it at one of the times when we went out for a fire drill,” said Colleen Friend, superintendent for the Carlisle Area School District. “It was very early in the school year, and kids are talking with each other at the fire drill.”
The district implemented the ban this year. Rather than use their cellphones in class, which Friend said many of them did, students now place their phone inside of a locked “phone home.”
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“I am only sorry that we didn’t start it earlier,” Friend said.
Under the bill, school boards would decide how to enforce the policy in their districts. It allows exceptions, including for students who require a mobile device for medical needs, have an individualized education plan or 504 service agreement and are learning English a need translation.
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