ATLANTA — A Georgia house committee advanced legislation Monday afternoon that would ban cellphone use in high schools.
Bill sponsor Representative Scott Hilton says the all-day ban is better than allowing students access in between classes.
“If we have a policy that says, ‘instruction time’ and you’re having to deal with the constant in-and-out of the cell phone, or if it is black and white, very simple, beginning of the day, end of the day, kids get that. Teachers get that,” says Hilton.
Last year, lawmakers approved a bill banning cell phones in K-8th Grade classrooms.
“By ‘instruction time’ we’re not solving the issue,” Hilton says. “The issue is we want teachers to teach and students to learn, and our teachers not to be a cellphone police.”
Districts that have already implemented school cell phone bans have seen success already. Hilton says Georgia Southern and Emory University have conducted studies and says they have found that, “grades are up, fights are down, test scores are up, and kids are interacting.”