With all the warnings out there, shouldn’t cell phones be banned in ALL schools?

June 24 – Last week, the US Surgeon General called for warning labels to be placed on social media platforms.

The nation’s second-largest school district in Los Angeles is also banning cell phones from school buildings for the next school year.

A district in western PA did the same.

Chris Bigger, superintendent of the Chambersburg Area School District, will speak with NewsTalk 103.7FM on Thursday.

NewsTalk 103.7FM’s Pat Ryan pointed out, “While we’re in June, let’s put our policies in place and the rules where we do it to not have cell phones in the school district. It has momentum. I think we’ve even seen some of the unions that are in education have had a push to attack this a little bit.”

Attorney Clint Barkdoll said, “I’m curious to hear Chris’ thoughts on this. I thought that story last week was very meaningful. That is, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy saying that the US government needs to take action on this issue. He wants warning labels to be put even on social media platforms. Of course, this can only be done by Congressional action. He doesn’t have the authority as surgeon general to do it. Then Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the country, has now implemented a blanket ban on all cell phones for the next school year, and they cite what we often talk about only this ever-growing body of research that talks about the harmful effects of phones mobile in schools, not only on academics and education, but also on mental health. Of course, this costs districts money because they have to address and deal with these things as they arise. If a local district is going to do it, the time to act is now. Yes, there would still be time to implement this for the fall. Obviously, it would be up to the school boards to address this, but I’ll be curious if the superintendent wants to consider it.”

NewsTalk 103.7FM’s Michele Jansen noted, “I know some people are saying that with a label, a warning, where they don’t see any harm, we know these things are harmful. Why wouldn’t we have a label? But people are saying, okay, but we don’t want the government stepping in to dictate that. It’s fine with me. I agree. I don’t necessarily want a one-size-fits-all at the government and legislative level, but I think we’re having more of a conversation at the national level, admitting how harmful this has been for kids, even before COVID, and realizing that we could get of three-way benefits. of better behavior, better academics and fewer mental health problems, oh, not to mention four, less bullying. I feel like this is the time to go for it, and school districts certainly have the right to enforce it. I keep hearing that statistic thrown around, oh, but 70% of all K-12s already have policies. No, those policies are rubbish. These policies don’t stop cell phone use in school and all the distractions and all the problems it causes and it’s unfair to make this about teachers who have to monitor the classroom constantly with very demonstrable behavior, kids are addicted. They get angry and belligerent, disrupt the whole class if you try to take this, their drug away from them. More proof of how harmful these things are.”

Barkdoll added, “The other interesting tidbit about this, the school districts that implemented these bans, and it’s always controversial at first, they got very positive feedback from parents and students after it was implemented, which I think is interesting. . Remember also that there are some areas of what I would call the middle rights here. What some schools have done is they ban phones, but kids can still have phones on the way to school and when they leave school, but they have to put them in those special lockers that they can’t access all day. This is something school districts could consider. But you look at all these experts who keep looking at it, and a lot of them point out that many years from now, this is going to be like cigarettes. We’ll look back and say, what were we thinking giving all these kids this unlimited access to phones and social media? So I’ll be curious. We welcome July. School boards are still meeting, setting policies for the fall. Do I green light it and ban it for August?”

Ryan insisted: “It has to happen and it has to happen now and I’m glad we’re talking about it now.”