RTE summary ofMany Schools Are Phone Free for Students: What's Next?, commentary, Institute for Family Studies,
The essay notes that 18 states and the District of Columbia have acted on calls for phone-free schools. It focuses on Virginia, where Governor Glenn Youngkin signed one of the first statewide bell-to-bell phone-free measures, which keeps phones away during class, between classes, and at lunch.
School leaders interviewed for the piece describe early results. Roanoke County middle school principal Chris Benson says the statewide policy made the message clearer for families and helped teachers enforce it from the first day, and that he received no pushback from parents. An elementary principal reported that only one parent raised concerns, and came around after a conversation. The author argues that the next steps should include raising the minimum legal age for social media accounts and limiting overuse of school-issued laptops, Chromebooks, and iPads.
Why it matters
Personal phones have been the first focus. School-issued devices, which the author names as a next step, raise a harder question, because they are chosen by the school and built into instruction. Deciding how much of that technology is helping students requires evidence about the specific tools in use.
This is RTE's summary. For the complete story, read it where it was originally published.
Read full article on Institute for Family Studies (opens in a new tab)Opens on Institute for Family Studies.
RTE summaries describe published reporting and commentary. Views and claims belong to the people and publications cited.