Starting next school year, Pennsylvania students who are used to having access to their smartphones during the day will see a change in their day-to-day routine.
The change comes as Governor Josh Shapiro signed a “bell-to-bell” cell phone ban into law on Monday.
“I think the kids are very distracted in the classrooms by their cell phones,” says Kathleen Ugiangrante of Scranton.
While the Scranton School District already limits students’ cell phone use during the day, some parents see the ban as a step towards keeping all Pennsylvania students focused in the classroom.
“I don’t think they should be using their phones as much,” says Michael Seletyn of Scranton. “Less distractions, and hopefully more interactions between the students instead of them all just being on their phones all of the time”.
For some students at Scranton High School, they say they’re used to having limited access to their cell phones.
“I don’t really like the rule they’re doing; it’s just going to make kids more sneaky than they already are,” says Scranton High School junior Tyler Dempsey.
“I only use it in case of emergencies that I need to text someone,” says Alexander Guevara. A freshman at Scranton High School.
But for some, they’ve seen how much of a distraction phones can be.
“When they use their phone, they become unfocused, and they don’t really focus on what’s happening in the classroom,” says Andrew Lopez-Cisneros, a Scranton High School freshman.
“If kids are just ChatGPT’ing everything, I think it would actually help out with kids learning in school,” says Dempsey.
Once the ban starts next year, students will be able to use their cell phones again only when the final bell of the day rings.