Technology changes so fast, it’s sometimes hard to keep pace. But schools in Louisiana took a giant step forward in regaining some balance after lawmakers banned cellphone use in classrooms this fall.
We have heard the outcry from parents who say the new law will make it harder for students to contact them during emergencies. We have seen the online petitions by students who insist that they can manage the distraction and that cellphones are vital to their school experience.
And yet we are unmoved. This common-sense action was too long in coming. Schools are for learning, and anything that takes students’ attention away from their education doesn’t belong in the classroom.
In Lincoln Parish and other districts where cellphone bans were instituted years prior to the law, teachers reported that students’ focus and attention increased, there was less bullying and overall student behavior improved.
If there’s a downside to any of this, it’s that Act 313, the law which seeks to regulate cellphone use during the school day, left it up to the districts to work out the details of enforcement. That has led to uneven rules as some districts, such as St. Tammany and Lafayette parishes, require merely that students turn off and stow cellphones in a backpack or bookbag during instructional time while others, such as Caldwell Parish, make students check cellphones at the front office during the school day.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, the cellphone ban also applies to their use on school buses. And in some districts, students will face fines and suspension if they violate the ban. Jefferson Parish said a separate law requiring expulsion after three suspensions from school would apply to suspensions for cellphone violations.
While we want to see rules that give the ban some teeth, no student should face expulsion for using a cellphone during school hours. We're encouraged that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote later this month on a measure requiring school boards to spell out their policies. Hopefully, districts will be urged to proceed with firmness and fairness.
That said, we are glad that schools are finally engaging in the conversation about how children interact with social media and their constant engagement with cellphones. The sponsor of the cellphone ban, Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, said she was prompted to introduce the legislation after hearing social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about research showing how cellphones can affect kids’ mental health.
Louisiana is among the first group of states to take action to ban cellphones in schools. After all that our lawmakers have done to make teachers’ jobs harder in recent sessions, we must acknowledge when they give our teachers the support they need. We believe taking cellphones out of the classroom will improve the educational environment immensely, and that’s what we all should be focused on.