Youngkin issues cell phone ban in classrooms
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order requiring public school districts to adopt policies banning cell phones in class by January 2025.
According to Youngkin, removing cell phones from classrooms would eliminate distractions and would “protect the health and safety of our students by limiting the amount of time they are exposed to addictive cell phones and social media.”
In response, a spokesperson for Fairfax County Public Schools issued the following statement: “FCPS is currently reviewing the governor’s Executive Order (EO-33) regarding cell phone and smartphone usage by students in schools.”
FCPS first implemented cell phone guidance in the 2022-23 Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook.
Phones are currently banned in classrooms for students in all grade levels, although high school students can use their phones between classes and during bathroom breaks.
The school system plans to continue to explore “additional ways to address concerns regarding inappropriate cell phone use in schools,” FCPS states.
In May, the School Board adopted a motion by at-large member Kyle McDaniel calling for a pilot program on the secure storage of phones in classroom phone lockers or magnetic pouches.
Youngkin’s executive order directs the Virginia Department of Education to “initiate a robust public engagement effort with parents, students, teachers, local school leaders, and other stakeholders to develop collaboratively policies and procedures that establish the age-appropriate restriction or elimination of cell phone use during instructional time, as well as to establish protocols allowing parents to contact their children in emergency and other important situations.”
The state government would allocate $500,000 from existing funds to implement the cell phone ban.
“Implementing cell phone-free education in Virginia’s K-12 public schools is critical, especially given youth chronic health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, that are driven in part by extensive social media and cell phone use,” Youngkin stated in a press release. Children spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media, which “doubles the risk of poor mental health for adolescents.”
The executive order directs the Department of Education to publish draft guidelines by Aug. 15 and final guidance in September.
This is an excellent decision. Cellphone usage is out of control in Virginia schools. I see it on a daily basis teachers are trying to teacher and students are in class listening to music or on social media.
This is great! States that have banned cell phones see an increase in student interaction and they don’t mind it in the end.
The executive order clearly states “restriction” OR “elimination”.
Not necessarily a total ban.
As a parent with kids in school… I will say my kid would not be given up their phone. I have no trust that someone would save my kid in an emergency situation so it would be up to me. Cops are cowards which saw on multiple occasions in the past few years when someone attacked a school. My kids need their phone. Also, they are straight A students so this isn’t a concern. I want them safe.
“Cops are cowards?”
Explain your comment. They go out and risk their lives every day to protect us. And you’ve got ungrateful people like you that hate them. Next time you need help, don’t call the police. Figure it out yourself. You know…since they’re “cowards.”
And YOU do not dictate the cell phone policy. If your child (or children) have their phone out, they WILL get taken.
Get bent.
Forgive me, but what exactly are you able to do in an emergency situation that the school/police can’t?
Are you going to charge the campus with a firearm?
And for the record, in these active shooter situations, cops and staff have performed admirably more times than not. Uvalde was a horrible situation but that is not the norm.
Careful what propaganda you believe.
You have a 0.0000002% chance of being killed by an active shooter (100/350,000,000).
You and everyone you know are more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by an active shooter.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/question/What-are-the-chances-of-being-struck-by-lightning
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-in-the-us-2022-042623.pdf
Well, you are also about 100 times more likely to be killed by someone with a gun (inclusive of mass shootings) than being struck by lightning, so that’s another way of looking at it…
Maria – work with FCPS to institute policies that meet your safety concerns and also remove cell phone distraction. For instance, non-smart flip phones will allow you to reach and be reached by your child, but also help children around your child stay engaged with instruction and have better social interactions. Even if your child can look at a smart phone in class and get straight As, most children can not. Teachers should not have to implement rules where some children use smart phones in class and others may not.
Might I suggest the Maria Brown Homeschool program? It allows children unfettered cell phone access and no School Resource Officers standing by to get in the way of your “A students”.
Agree homeschooling is the only way to go, if you love your children. If you can’t afford it, downsize along with ere-evaluating your priorities.
If you want your kids listening to trash music objectifying women, addicted to social media, doing drugstore, and getting pregnant out of wedlock, public school for the win!
I was being sarcastic, but thanks for letting me know I don’t love my kids and the warning about them “doing drugstore”. Do you ever notice how people are always rolling their eyes around you? Pssst… it’s you.
*doing drugs (autocorrect…)
No, people don’t roll their eyes. They all want to know how my children are so wonderful, and they ask me how I do it. Now you know, too!
I can’t tell if this serious or satire. If satire… definitely A+.
If serious, yikes.