House Subcommittee advances bill to limit cell phones in classrooms

Stock photo of children using cell phones in a classroom (Photo by RDNE Stock project/Pexels)

In a unanimous vote, the House Education Administration Subcommittee voted to advance a bill that would prohibit students from using cell phones in the classroom.

State Representative Rebecca Alexander (Photo by Tennessee General Assembly)

The bill, brought by Representative Rebecca Alexander R-Jonesborough, would require local boards of education and public charter schools to adopt a policy prohibiting students from using any wireless communication devices during instructional time, with a few exceptions. A teacher could allow a student to use a device for educational purposes and students could use it in the event of an emergency. It also requires schools to develop a process by which parents or guardians would be contacted in the event of an emergency at the school. Students with health issues or special needs would also be able to use their phones.

“There are features in this bill that would allow students with disabilities to have the ability to use what they need, to allow students with a 504 to have that access and that ability, as well as students, for example, with medical needs,” said Representative Alexander. She said one example would be students with diabetes who use apps on their phones to monitor blood sugar. “It is a very permissive bill, and it allows each school board to set up their own policy.”

Representative Alexander also mentioned Hamblen County, which does not allow cell phones for the entire instructional day, not just during instructional time. That means students also cannot use their phones in between classes and during lunch, not just during classroom instruction. She said test scores in the district have improved since the policy was introduced. Representatives Mark White, R-Memphis, and Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, expressed support for districts adopting a full day ban on cell phones, an option school boards would have under the legislation.

 “I think you hit it right on the head there. I’ve toured a couple of schools that have implemented this policy, especially in the classrooms at the high school level, and to see these children now starting to talk to each other, and start to communicate to each other and express ideas to each other, it’s reminiscent of the way our classrooms used to be where kids were engaged in day to day conversation with their peers and with their teachers, developing thought processes and defending their values,” said Representative Cepicky.

Representative Chris Hurt,R-Halls, said he had some concerns when a similar bill was introduced last year, but has changed his mind after researching the issue.

“I struggled with this bill a little last year. I didn’t want to overstep our bounds as far as local control and telling the locals too much, and we do that too many times up here,” said Representative Hurt. “But after talking with administrators and teachers and visiting and reading the studies and the responses from our schools on the benefit this will have, I’m proud to support it this year.”

The bill now advances to the full House Education Committee.