ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A statewide cell phone ban will soon be a reality for school districts across Pennsylvania. Legislators in both houses passed a bill calling for the ban. Governor Josh Shapiro has promised to sign it.
Kids have taken cell phones to school for decades, and now districts will soon be required to create a bell-to-bell policy banning them in class.
Officials say the move is long overdue.
“Our students receive over 237 alerts in a day,” said Aaron Chapin, PSEA president.
“It’s going to go a long way to help our students focus on our academics, to have more social interactions with their colleagues, and it’s going to be great for student mental health,” he added.
Chapin told 69 News that a research poll conducted by the organization revealed 80% of Pennsylvanians support a complete cell phone ban in schools.
“The moment students get to school, cell phones are put away. Then, as they leave at the end of the day, the phones can come back out,” he explained.
Exceptions to the ban include students or families with medical conditions, English as a second language students who use phones for translating, special occasions, those with individual education programs or IEPs, and instructional use.
“Safety experts across the board have really said to us, as well as legislators, when there’s an emergency, the students need to be focusing on the staff at that time. It’ll help keep them safer,” Chapin said.
When enacted, Pennsylvania will join 40 other states with cell phone bans. 19 of those states have bell-to-bell bans.
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