LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – While some schools are actively increasing the number of screens in the classroom, the future of Michigan may be free of cell phone screens.
In June, Representative Gary Eisen, R-St. Clair Township introduced State House Bill 6171 which would require Michigan Public Schools to implement a schoolwide policy that would forbid students from using phones in classrooms, school halls, and also on school transportation to class. The bill is currently under review by the education committee.
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The Forest Hills Public Schools, near Grand Rapids, banned phones since the fall of 2019.
Parents, teachers, and the administration have not looked back since the ban according to Superintendent Dan Behm. Those facing the phone bans were also pleased with the new policy. .
‘Students have told us this has been freeing for them,” Behm said. “Because they’ve got a six, seven-hour period where they don’t have to look at their phone. And they know their friends aren’t also posting something at the same time. It’s allowed them to focus on learning.”
Forest Hills students do not have their phones taken away, rather have them packed away until after school is over, or in the need of an emergency. However, there are landlines still in classrooms in the event of an emergency.
Behm acknowledged that the students are more present with one another and would spend more time in face to face interactions with peers and adults alike.
Michigan is not the first state to consider such strict cellular restrictions for students, though many other states have already had their bills rejected.
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California was the first state to enact a bill which granted schools state-backed authority to regulate smartphones during the school day. It focuses less on outright banning phones, but rather the negative effect of them on mental health, and also looking into regulations on phones while keeping students’ mental health at the forefront.
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