When it comes to the use of cellphones in public school classrooms, Mississippi is behind the curve compared to the rest of the country.
The Newsweek website reports that 26 states, including every single one in the South other than Mississippi, have a “bell-to-bell” ban on students using a cellphone, meaning from the beginning of a school day’s first class to the end of the last one.
Seven other states either limit phone use in classrooms or require school districts to establish policies on student use of the devices. Mississippi is among the 17 states that have done nothing about phones at school, but lawmakers in the state House and Senate want to change that.
Two Senate Republicans have filed identical bills that would require school districts to set up policies to ban the possession or restrict the use of cellphones in class. The bills include a medical exception, and say students can use their phones “In the case of an emergency, or in response to a perceived threat of danger.”
The Senate bills are only two pages long. The two House bills, which are only slightly different, go much deeper into the issue. Each of the House bills runs for 15 pages, going so far as to specify different restrictions for elementary, middle and high schools.
It’s probably time for the Legislature to do something about cellphones in schools, and follow the lead of what many states have set up. Lawmakers tried last year but were unsuccessful, according to the Magnolia Tribune website. For what it’s worth, a Pew Research Center study says up to 75% of adults support a classroom cellphone ban in middle school and high school.
There is wisdom in the arguments for banning cellphones from class. Doing so would remove a distraction and help students get more from their studies. Also, the wicked side of cellphone use often results in bullying and other mistreatment.
Opponents of a ban, meanwhile, say schools shouldn’t prevent kids from contacting their families. They also say teaching “healthier device habits,” as Newsweek put it, would do a lot more to help today’s students.
A Virginia Tech official said today’s students carry a computer in their pocket that used to require the space of an entire room. Cellphones are both an asset and a hindrance, and young people more than any group need to learn the discipline of using this device wisely.
Here’s the most interesting thing about all the Mississippi bills: While lawmakers apparently think cellphone use in school has gotten out of hand, they go to extremes to limit punishment if the ban becomes law and a student breaks the rules.
The House bills say any school policies on the subject must expressly prohibit the suspension, expulsion or removal from class of a student who sneaks onto a phone. And they specify that school resource officers — a school’s security people, if you will — should not be involved in enforcing this policy. Which makes it sound like one more assignment for teachers.
The Senate bills say a violation of any cellphone policy, without any other violations, is not reason enough to suspend or expel.
If any of these bills become law, it sounds like students won’t get in serious trouble unless they use a cellphone during school to do something like cheat on a test or harass a classmate.
But what is the point of saying cellphones are a serious problem at school if we’re not willing to hold kids accountable when they try to get away with using one? Of course, if the punishment is confiscating a phone and cutting off a kid’s social lifeline for a couple of days, that could work wonders for student discipline.
— Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
