Lawmakers act on DeWine’s call to ban cell phones in classroom

(The Center Square) – Gov. Mike DeWine’s push to ban cell phones in Ohio classrooms is meeting resistance from Republicans and Democrats.

In last week’s State of the State address, DeWine called cell phones a major distraction in state schools and asked lawmakers to develop legislation that would eliminate the usage in most classroom settings.

Reps. Tom Young, R-Washington Township, and Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, agreed and have introduced a bill that would effectively ban the use of cell phones during instruction times with few exceptions.

The ban would include any device not provided by the school district – cell phones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, smart watches and headphones.

It also would require districts to develop a policy that prohibits and prevents students from accessing social media platforms through the system’s internet service and ban TikTok on any district-owned device.

Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, agreed with the governor and thinks a ban is important but did not immediately commit to state-level legislation to remove phones from schools.

“I think the idea of eliminating smart phones during the school day is a great idea. The governor has talked about encouraging it. All of us learned to read without the use of smart phones. I think that is something important to happen, beyond the bad content on the internet,” Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said.

Other Republican and Democrat legislative leaders believe a state law is unnecessary. Schools can currently establish bans if they choose.

“School districts, the leaders and the principals have the ability to do that if they feel like that’s a decision they need to make,” House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Township, said.

House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, also believes individual districts should make local decisions.

“I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all all for every school district and every situation,” Russo said.

The bill’s exception to classroom smart phone usage includes if a teacher allows it, in an emergency or to manage the student’s health care or if using a phone is part of the student’s individualized education program.

The bill also would mandate instruction on the social, emotional and physical effects of social media for sixth- through 12th-graders, which includes instruction on the negative effects of misinformation, how social media manipulates behavior and things shared on social media are permanent.