Summary

Cellphone bans in schools are gaining bipartisan momentum, with at least eight states, including California, Florida, and Virginia, enacting restrictions to combat classroom distractions and protect children’s mental health.

Governors from both parties, such as Arkansas’ Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California’s Gavin Newsom, support these measures, citing benefits of phone-free school days.

While some parents oppose bans, citing emergencies and transportation needs, proponents argue phones disrupt learning and may pose risks during crises.

States differ on implementation, from outright bans to district-level policies or funding for phone storage solutions.

  • @Kbobabob
    link
    -1121 hours ago

    Is your kid going to stop the person shooting up the school with their phone? What’s the goal here?

    • Flying Squid
      link
      1921 hours ago

      I’m not expert on these things, but I hear phones can be a line to the outside world in a crisis. Anyone know if that’s true? Can you use a phone to call people or anything like that?

      • @Kbobabob
        link
        -1218 hours ago

        You don’t think there would be people, teachers and staff with cell phones?

        • Flying Squid
          link
          110 hours ago

          I think the more people with ways to get lines of communication out during a crisis involving someone murdering children the better. I’m not sure why you don’t.

          • @theherk
            link
            18 hours ago

            That isn’t strictly true. A dispatch center will prefer some communication over other. Not saying anything about phones in school specifically, but generally “more comms” is not always a good thing. Better comms is.

            • Flying Squid
              link
              -18 hours ago

              Just being able to be the first one to contact 911 if they saw the killer come into the school would be enough. But like I suggested to others, giving both parents and kids the peace of mind by allowing them the chance to say goodbye to each other in a country with constant school shootings is an even bigger reason.

              Solve the endless school shootings issue and I will be 100% behind a cell phone ban in American schools.

          • @Kbobabob
            link
            -19 hours ago

            I’m not sure why you think children should hold that responsibility.

            • Flying Squid
              link
              -19 hours ago

              It’s not a responsibility, it’s a precaution. Note I didn’t say that I would tell my child what they absolutely had to do. I can’t speak for your kids, but mine wouldn’t need to feel a responsibility because they know the difference between right and wrong and they don’t want people to get hurt, so if they were the first person to see a gunman enter a school, they would want to be the first person to call 911.

              I don’t know what happened with you, but most people don’t suddenly become a self-aware people who care about others the day they turn 18.

              I would also like her to be able to say goodbye and she loves us if she wants that tiny bit of comfort during the last moments of her life.

      • @Kbobabob
        link
        -1318 hours ago

        Why can’t the adults do it?