Cell Phone Law Could Help Support Local School Rules

With a new statewide school cell phone limit, Jackson County Director Of Schools Jason Hardy said that there’s clearly a desire to limit the impact on young people.

State legislators passed the bill that requires all school districts to adopt policies prohibiting student cell phone use during instructional time. Hardy said many school systems already have cell phone policies and that the new law could help enforce them.

“We are not new to that,” Hardy said. “But we also think that the law, you know, kind of makes it a little bit stronger, so hopefully it helps us with the parents and the kids to understand this is an issue and we are all trying to be on the same page and trying to do whats best for the student and that’s getting them to focus during instructional time.”

Hardy said cell phones have been a big issue amongst students during instructional time. Hardy said the impact of the law will depend on how each school district enforces the new law.

“You can put a law in, you can put a policy in, you still got to enforce it,” Hardy said. “If the law does what it is intended to do and that’s really to support the districts and keeping instructional time sacred and making sure cell phones are not an issue. Cut down things like cyber bullying and just messaging throughout the day that disrupts the class. If that law does what it is intended to do, I do think it will benefit the schools.”

The new law allows school districts to craft their own version of the policy as cell phones during instructional time can be allowed if approved by the school district. Hardy said he enjoys the flexibility school districts have with the new law.

“I don’t think it’s the same in every district,” Hardy said. “I don’t think that the law needs to supercede and try to take over everything that’s run in the single district, so I do get the premis but I do appreciate that they do understand it is an issue with cell phones, but for me on a personal level. I feel like these are things that you take care of at a district level, so I will say that I am happy that this law does give districts the flexibility to kind of choose the route that they go.”

Hardy said the Jackson County School Board will have future discussions about cell phone policies and will try to come up with a policy that is best for the teachers and students. Hardy said part of the process will be reaching out to other schools that have different cell phone policies.