In his State of the State address last Wednesday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker proposed a statewide ban on cell phone use in the classroom; “This session, I’ll move forward with legislation requiring all school districts in Illinois to adopt a cell phone policy that bans the use of phones during classroom instruction. More focus on learning will bring even greater success for kids across the state.”
Sensing a decline in student participation and engagement after the pandemic, fifteen states have signed legislation banning cell phone use during the classroom. Illinois may very well become the sixteenth, with cell phone bans having rare broad bipartisan support.
Students have had generally negative reactions.
Those against the ban cite their utility in the classroom; “I use my phone quite frequently to use it as a metronome for band, and also as just a way to find information,” senior Vincent Fabbi remarked.
Junior Taylor Mraz said that cell phone bans are “kind of a violation of [students’] right to own a cell phone – if you’re paying for it or your parents are paying for it, there’s no reason why you can’t have it.”
Use of cell phones during emergencies was also cited as a benefit, and a lack of communication devices during those situations “may be cause for concern,” as junior Logan Sinks voiced.
In contrast, teachers have largely supported the idea of a ban.
AP Physics teacher Mr. Champlin likened phones in the classroom to “a little kid with a big bucket of ice cream in front of them… you just kinda get in the habit of repeatedly looking at it all the time.”
“There is no doubt about it that the student’s attention span has significantly decreased… I’ve been teaching since ‘94, but the last ten years have been an abomination,” says math teacher Mr. Samulis. On “teacher-student swap” day during a recent spirit week, he strapped a phone to his face as “a statement about what is happening right now – students will literally run you over in the hallway because they are oblivious to their surroundings.”
English teacher Mrs. Coyle argues that phones “not only [hurt] students academically, [but they are] negatively impacting them socially and emotionally.” She specifically supports a statewide approach due to the fact that teacher-by-teacher enforcement is “difficult to enforce on my own.”
The tangible effect of cell phone bans on student performance is generally positive, according to Scientific American. A paper cited by the article found that “banning mobile phones in schools increases student performance, especially for low-achieving students. There was no negative impact on high-achieving students.” However, the article caveats that a cell phone ban’s effect on mental health is less definitive.
As of publishing, Illinois Bill SB2427, which would in effect ban cell phones in schools, was introduced and read to the rules committee in the Illinois House.
