House Democrats balked, but Gov. Kelly Ayotte is on board with a GOP proposal to mandate a statewide “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones in New Hampshire classrooms.
When Ayotte first began talking up a ban on cellphones in school, the idea was greeted with bipartisan support. But Democrats on the House Education Policy Committee voted against an amended version of the bill that would require schools to ban phones for the entire school day, rather than allowing local districts to develop their own cellphone ban policies.
When the more restrictive version passed on a party-line vote, the question was whether Ayotte would still support it. On Wednesday, she removed all doubt.
“A bell-to-bell ban on cell phones in schools will help kids focus on learning and let teachers do their jobs without being the phone police,” the governor posted on social media. “Glad to see the House move this forward to get distractions out of our classrooms.”
The issue of local vs. state control has come up regarding several legislative issues this session, perhaps most notably in the debate over new home construction and local zoning laws. It’s also touched education issues as well.
Last week, the GOP-controlled legislature passed a bill allowing towns to adopt local spending caps and require a three-fifths vote to break them. The goal is to slow down local spending, which has sent property taxes soaring.
But the “bell-to-bell” policy, supporters say, is based on the best available social science regarding the benefits of keeping students off their smartphones and other personal internet-enabled devices. For example, says Nathan Hoffman with ExcelinEd, an all-day ban prevents problems outside of class, like in the lunch room or hallways.
“That’s often when you get some of your biggest behavioral issues, whether they go viral or not,” Hoffman told CBS News.
Half of all U.S. states have a school cellphone ban policy, and supporters cite studies showing they have an impact. A University of Chicago study has shown that even the mere presence of a cell phone can negatively impact cognitive capacity, even if it’s not being used.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) recently announced that New York will be the largest state in the nation to require statewide, bell-to-bell restrictions on smartphones in K-12 schools beginning this fall.
Another reason for a bell-to-bell ban, as opposed to simply limiting access during class time, is that lawmakers want to avoid turning teachers into the smartphone police. And teachers say they are growing more frustrated by what smartphones are doing to the educational experience.
“About seven-in-ten (72 percent) say that students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem in their classroom, compared with 33 percent of middle school teachers and 6 percent of elementary school teachers,” according to Pew Research Center.
