House Bill 2251 contains exemptions for students who need access to their phones for medical reasons or because of their individual special education plans.
It is more proscriptive than a prior version of the proposal, which would have allowed school districts to permit cell phone use during lunch and passing periods while prohibiting device use during instructional time.
Because of that lack of flexibility for local school districts, committee Vice Chair Emily McIntire, R-Klamath Falls, voted no.
Under the bill, school districts would be required to spell out specific consequences for students who violate the rules.
The so-called “off and away all day” policy is similar to the one the Portland Public Schools board passed in January on a 5-2 vote.
The bill is not listed as having any fiscal impact, meaning that the state does not plan to pay for the lockable pouches that some school districts, including North Clackamas, have used to help enforce such bell-to-bell bans. Such pouches typically cost about $25 per student.
School officials, including Portland Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong, have raised concerns about enforcing such a ban during lunch and passing periods, especially in settings like Portland where students routinely leave campus during lunchtime.
Many school districts already have off-and-away-all-day policies, meaning students are expected to stow their devices in their backpacks, pockets or lockers. And some classrooms have storage devices for student phones, like lockboxes or repurposed shoe caddies. But until the last few years, enforcement had largely been left to individual teachers, leading to a patchwork of outcomes and consequences.
Research suggests that constant access to cell phones has left a generation of students stressed, anxious and unfocused and has led to debilitating and time-consuming struggles between teachers and students.
“I believe that the high rates of behavioral dysregulation, poor social skills, anxiety and depression as well as struggles with academic performance are related to the overwhelming amount of time our kids spend on electronic devices,” Marlo McIlraith, an associate professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University, wrote to lawmakers in support of the bill.
Students have typically protested such bans, sometimes vociferously, saying they rely on technology for communication with employers and family members and to do their schoolwork.
“Banning these devices would slow down the modern learning process and stop a student’s ability to use digital materials that will later be used in the work world,” West Salem High School sophomore Ava Thaemert wrote to lawmakers in submitted testimony.
Some parents, too, have said they have safety concerns about all-day bans.
“Some students only get through the day knowing that if something happened at school, they have access to their parents,” wrote Heather Edwards, a parent from Forest Grove. “No school should be able to limit a child’s ability to get help if needed.”
The bill now moves to the full House for a vote. Should the bill pass the Legislature and be signed into law by the governor, Oregon would join 11 other states that have similar bans, including California, VIrginia and Florida.
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