Top Mass. Senate Dem floats cell phone ban for schools

The state’s maximum Democrat wants the Massachusetts schools to be without cell phones.

“ There is evidence that the use of mobile phones among students during the school day is detrimental to a number of reasons: from simple distractions to more worrying problems, such as traps and cyber bullying, ” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middtex/Norfolk, he said during an appearance against the largest Boston trade chamber.

Ashland’s Democrat said that his son, a high school teacher, inspired him to raise the problem.

“I am happy to say that we are talking a lot and often talks about the unique challenges of teaching students who are on a cellphone on their desktop,” said Spilka.

At least 18 states already have laws that restrict mobile use in schools, said Spilka.

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“ In Massachusetts, our schools should be a really safe space where children can grow, learn, make mistakes and develop healthy relationships, so that schools are not free from mobile telephony should be so fundamental to understanding what a child helps to learn as a school meal and access to social and emotional learning resources, ” he continued.

The Senate leader did not make a specific legislative field during Wednesday’s speech at Westin Boston.

But another upper Democrat, the State Attorney General, Andrea J. Campbell, Has some particularities in mind.

In January, the Campbell Office presented a bill, dubbed the “Study Law”, which would impose a “bell bell” ban on mobile phones and other personal electronic devices, his office said in a statement.

The proposal “puts students and their mental health first,” said Campbell.

“When restricting cell phones during the school day and increasing the bar for social media companies, we are taking daring steps to create free learning environments and a digital landscape that prioritizes the well -being of our youth,” Campnell continued. “This bill is a commitment to education and mental health for our young people, ensuring that they have the tools to be successful without unnecessary prejudice.”

National states are also considered or have imposed mobile phone bans on public school students. And has bipartisan support, The Associated Press reported earlier this year.

The push for mobile prohibitions has been promoted by concerns about the mental health impact of children and the complaints of teachers that cell phones have become a constant distraction in the classroom.

At the national level, 77% of US schools say they prohibit school cell phones for non-academic use, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

But this number is misleading. It does not mean that students follow these bans or all these schools apply them.

Kim Whitman, co -founder of the telephone -free school movement, said that the problem is because the parents and teachers of both red and blue states are fighting the consequences of children on mobile devices.

“It doesn’t matter if you live in a large city or a rural, urban or suburban city, all children fight and need this seven -hour break from the pressures of phones and social media during the school day,” he said.

Talking on Wednesday with business leaders, Spilka said he wants the upper chamber to “explore ways to keep our schools free of distraction, and more precisely on mobile phones.”

Associated press reports are included in this story.