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.
I’m not sure where I land on this debate.
What I am sure of is that most teachers would still have cell phones, so the idea that kids couldn’t make a call to emergency services doesn’t seem relevant. I’m sure a call from any teacher or other employee would be just as effective. Claiming kids need phones so that they can call 911 in an emergency isn’t relevant.
The fact that we have to discuss whether or not kids need to have phones available during school because of school shootings – that’s the truly insane part. I’m no longer convinced that any body count would produce effective “well regulated” gun control in the US.
No, it’s definitely relevant when we keep hearing that the first calls from several of these attacks have been from students.
I mean it’s pretty simple common sense there… in a shooting… shits happening fast. In an emergency the order of process is, get yourself somewhere safe ASAP, Then consider calling.
Teachers have much harder responsibility… because they need to get their students in as safe of a position as possible, then themselves… Then try to contact help. So teachers aren’t likely to be in a position of relative safety to call, until after the whole classroom has already been in such a position.
On top of that just numbers… obviously there’s 30x more students than teachers… so just on a numbers basis in a free for all, when someone is in a position to make the emergency call, it’s just statistically more likely to be a student.