MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Are phones getting in the way of your kids’ education? A group of educators and parents in Montpelier say yes.
“It was just getting worse every year. It just felt like I was constantly scanning to see if somebody had a phone,” said Adam Sargent, a teacher at Harwood Union.
In years past, Sargent felt like he was constantly losing class time trying to get kids to pay attention to him instead of their screens. Harwood Union students are now required to lock their phones in a pouch that cannot be unlocked until the end of the day. Now, he says he can be more present with his students.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this is more enjoyable because I don’t have to be the cell phone police,’” said Sargent.
Locking and keeping phones away from students is the best practice according to a book called “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, which was used to come up with the rules.
Thetford. Hartford Memorial Middle School, Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union, and Eagle Bay Academy also have the same no-phone policy. Now, it might become a statewide law.
“It doesn’t dictate how the schools would do it, it gives a menu of options that worked in other places,” said Liza Earle-Centers, an advocate for the new bill.
That bill, H.54, bans students from using phones and personal electronic devices during the school day and stops schools from communicating with students through social media. On Monday night, people at the Kellogg-Hubbard Memorial Library said that’s a good thing.
“I work with middle schoolers, I see them getting notifications on their phone, and my own kids, I know they love their screens, and I just want them to have an environment where they can be at school and be focused on their classes, and their friendships, and not be worrying about their devices,” said parent Jenna Bravakis.
The bill is currently in committee.