By: Amani Jordan
If you’re a K-12 student or parent in a Virginia school district, then recently, you’ve
most likely been hit with a phone ban or restriction during school hours. With Virginia
schools implementing a cellphone ban from “bell-to-bell,” students have either had limited access to phones, have to put their phones in a container or holder each class, or put their phones in magnetic pouches that are locked throughout the school day. With some school districts already having a plan or previously already having phone policies, other districts such as Fairfax County have different schools within their district trying different types of phone restriction techniques called pilot programs, to see what plan and policies they will be using in years to come.
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On July 9th, 2024, Governor Glenn Youngkin proclaimed Executive Order 33, a
directive for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to develop guidance and define what a cell phone-free education means for school divisions to create policies and procedures. Studies show that students who regularly use their phones at school have issues and trouble learning, focusing, and getting good grades. With a mental health crisis and academic achievement suffering, Youngkin’s EO (Executive Order) states, “creating a cell-phone free education environment in public schools is not only a prudent measure but an essential one to promote a healthier and more focused educational environment where every child is free to learn.” To meet with the EO’s charge VDOE has initiated discussions with parents, teachers, division superintendents, boards, principals, community members, staff, and students, and will continue to keep an open line of communication. In July 2023,
Florida became the first state to restrict the use of cell phones in school, requiring that all public schools ban cell phone use during instructional time and that they block social media on school Wi-Fi. Indiana and Ohio followed closely and implemented their own laws this year, as well as other states including “phone-free schools” legislation.
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Phones and social media both have positive and negative effects on youth. The main problem is that cell phones and social media use psychological tools to capture the attention of their users and get them to come back. This creates students to lack attention and focus and spend more time on their phones. Spending more than 3 hours on social media has evidence of doubling the risk of poor mental health and research used in the EO proves that since 2010, rates of suicide have grown 167% in girls and 91% for boys, alongside
a rise in depression of 161% and 145% in 2019-2021. With 2019-2021 being the years of the global pandemic and everyone being home for long periods of time, the youth became more indulged in technology and social media. Most school instruction was online, phones were a connection to the outside world, social media was used even more as a way to socialize. Overall the pandemic has a connection to the problem of phone use. Students have also shown issues of socializing and connecting to their peers which has lowered participation and spirit in schools.
Through communication with the commonwealth, most parents and guardians do
support the Executive Order however a lot have concerns about not having access to phones. Things such as not being in contact with their children, their children not being able to call emergency services, as well as the possibility of a school emergency and not being able to get in contact with their child, are the main issues for a lot of parents and guardians in the state. For health, kids with medical issues who need their phones for medical services are allowed to have access to their phones and keep them on their persons. VDOE states In elementary schools, if a parent feels their child needs to have a cell phone it must be turned off and stored away from their child and must not be used during the school day in the school building or on school grounds before or after school. Middle and High schools should not allow students to have an easily accessible personal electronic
device during the bell-to-bell school day, With middle schools having the flexibility for the school divisions to come up with policies about cell phone use on campus before and after school and high schools giving students access to use phones on campus before and after school.
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School districts who already had this process say that their students are getting better grades, test scores, and are participating in class, clubs, after-school events, and extracurriculars more, as well as engaging and connecting with their classmates. Virginia hopes by implementing these policies to all schools that all students will have similar experiences and changes within their student life.
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