Cell phone usage during instructional time in classrooms will no longer be permitted for students in Indiana.
Starting from Monday, July 1, Senate Bill 185 will come into effect following its approval during the legislative session.
Related posts
The bill would establish requirements for cell phone usage in Indiana schools.
“We don’t permit our sons to take their cellphones to school,” Shawnta Stockton Barnes said.
Barnes is a father with over a decade of teaching experience.
“I think there should be some burden on parents to teach their kids healthy habits with cell phones,” Barnes said.
Barnes’ sons attend MSD Washington Township School, which already has a cell phone policy. However, the state now expects all districts to have a cell phone policy and adhere to comparable criteria.
The measure prohibits the use of cell phones, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices in classrooms unless they serve educational purposes, someone has a disability or medical concern, or there is an emergency.
“We have a problem with kids paying attention in school,” State Rep. Julie McGuire said. “Testing scores continue to go down, we have too many distractions in life and social media takes over our kids’ lives.”
Barnes says she supports the policy but is concerned about the pressure it places on teachers and believes more should be done to encourage students to pay attention in class.
“Yes, that solves the problem for the drama kids can have on their cell phones, but it doesn’t necessarily correlate to kids paying attention more, in my opinion,” Barnes said. “We still have to work on the strategy to help kids be good note takers, how to focus when they’re in class, when they should advocate for themselves to ask questions if they are not understanding the academic content.”
It is now up to the individual school boards to implement the regulations and display them on the district’s website.
Lawmakers expect it will enhance classroom behavior and social skills.
“If there’s not a phone in their hand during class, maybe they’re going to sit and talk with their neighbor or talk to their friends in the hallway,” McGuire told me.
