Introduced in October, Senate Bill 1014 awaits House approval for its statewide \u201cbell-to-bell\u201d ban on cell phones during school hours.<\/p>\n
For concerned parents and teachers, action can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/p>\n
Public support for the bill is widespread and growing, with 74% of U.S. adults backing a ban on cellphones in middle and high school classrooms. It\u2019s also bipartisan, with more than 70% of Republicans and Democrats in favor.<\/p>\n
However, this momentum does not ensure the bill will be passed in its entirety.<\/p>\n
Much like a previous cellphone ban bill proposed by former Republican Sen. Ryan Aument, which initially required schools to secure phones in lockable bags, it was later amended to \u201cencourage\u201d the policy rather than mandate it.<\/p>\n
So, too, could this proposal go. And to date, amendments to the bill have already been made.<\/p>\n
Legislation to include private schools under the ban and provide more exceptions, such as students who have family members with qualifying medical conditions, have been incorporated. Republican Sen. Devlin Robinson of Bridgeville, the bill\u2019s sponsor, is not in favor of the changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not thrilled with the amendment and don\u2019t believe it improves the bill,\u201d said Robinson. Although much of \u201cthe original language was left intact,\u201d the bill has yet to make it to the governor\u2019s desk or make a difference for many concerned voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing from a lot of my constituents that are teachers and parents and they\u2019re just getting fed up.\u201d Robinson said. Already, 18 states have enacted full \u201cbell to bell\u201d bans and seen results, but Pennsylvania teachers still struggle to maintain order and keep their students\u2019 attention when competing against TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram.<\/p>\n
Angela Girol, a fourth-grade teacher in Pittsburgh and member of the school board, voiced support for the bill, as even her students of 9 and 10 years old can\u2019t seem to shake what appears to be a generational death grip on cellular devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really wish it wasn\u2019t an issue we have to deal with,\u201d Girol said, adding that making sure students are not on their phones or trying to resolve online conflicts has turned teaching into policing \u2013 a position neither she nor her colleagues signed up for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be supported at a higher level than just our local level,\u201d Griol said. \u201cI\u2019m really hoping that lawmakers can see that this is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Rep. Mandy Steele \u2014 a Democrat from Fox Chapel who has sponsored a similar school phone bill and is the mom of four \u2014 is one of these lawmakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to move one of these bills and do it fast,\u201d Steele said. \u201cThe research is abundant and clear that children are in a very serious crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the popularization of smartphones among children, parents and teachers are seeing lower test scores, while rates of depression, suicide, hospitalization, and obesity continue to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not seeing children outside, we\u2019re not seeing them engaging with one another, engaging with adults. We\u2019re not seeing them ride their bikes or play in the street,\u201d Steele said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is them staring down at a device in their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Introduced in October, Senate Bill 1014 awaits House approval for its statewide \u201cbell-to-bell\u201d ban on cell phones during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[165,74],"class_list":["post-659043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}