Gov. Kelly Ayotte has been a vocal supporter of a classroom cellphone ban since her first day in office.
“Screens are negatively impacting our learning environments, drawing students’ attention away from their classes, and becoming a barrier for teachers to do their jobs. No more,” she said at the time.
But will Ayotte back a tough “bell-to-bell” ban that passed the House Education Policy Committee on Tuesday?
Earlier this year, a bill requiring schools to develop their own classroom cellphone restrictions received bipartisan support in both chambers. The newly amended bill, SB 206, mandates an all-day ban on student cellphone use across the state.
It narrowly passed in a party-line 9-8 vote. The reason?
Local control, Democrats claim — or lack thereof.
Rep. Melissa Litchfield (R-Brentwood) proposed the “bell-to-bell” ban amendment.
“The vast majority of NEA (National Education Association) members say that students cannot concentrate and they’re acting out,” Litchfield said. “They see a lack of student motivation and negative student behavior both towards peers and educators.
“83 percent support prohibiting cellphone personal device usage during the entire school day. Teachers don’t want to be the police. They’re asking us to put this into law.”
Rep. Loren Selig (D-Durham), in opposition, countered that a bell-to-bell mandate is “overly prescriptive and violates local control.”
“Each district should be able to determine what its own needs are,” she added.
Ayotte, however, has stopped short — at least publicly — of supporting an outright bell-to-bell ban. An alternative House proposal, HB 781, calls for local school districts to enact their own restrictive cellphone usage policies.
That particular piece of legislation earned near-unanimous support (16-1) from the House Education Policy Committee during a vote held March 6.
When Ayotte first began promoting the classroom cell phone ban, she cited social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation”, which makes the case for limiting children’s screen time and social media use by comparing rates of mental illness.
Haidt responded by going on social media to express his support.
“Bravo, Gov. Ayotte!” Haidt wrote. “Kids in New Hampshire will thank you for this.”
Haidt joined the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and some 40 other national organizations in a public letter advocating “a robust, ‘bell-to-bell’ phone-free school policy.”
Immediately following Tuesday’s 9-8 vote, Litchfield issued a statement through the GOP House Majority office calling on Senate lawmakers to adopt her amended bell-to-bell version.
“We send children to school to learn, not browse Instagram and TikTok,” Litchfield stated. “I hope that the Senate concurs with us on this critical matter so that we can send this bill to Gov. Ayotte.”
The amended proposal now heads to the full House for a vote.
