No cell, at least from bell to bell

By STEVE BRAWNER

Of the many education-related laws passed this most recent legislative session, the No Cell, Bell to Bell Act may have the biggest impact on today’s students.

The law prohibits students from using a personal cell phone or other digital device during the school day, except for a few circumstances, such as when a student has a disability or for a special event such as a pep rally. Schools can still provide their own digital devices for educational purposes.

The law was a priority of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has made restricting students’ screen time and social media use a personal cause. Last year, she instituted a statewide pilot project where students stored their cell phones in locked pouches during the day.

Earlier this month, officials with two school districts shared their experiences at a joint conference organized by the Arkansas School Boards Association and the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.

Bentonville, which has 20,000 students, stopped sending Chromebooks home with students below the high school level after students returned from the pandemic lockdown and educators noticed they were interacting less with each other face to face. Bentonville West High School restricted cell phone use during the 2023-24 school year. 

This year the entire district participated in Sanders’ cell phone pouch pilot project. Jones said junior high truancies fell 23%, while attempts to fight fell 66% and actual fighting fell 10%. Tobacco and e-cigarette use decreased 56% because students couldn’t make plans via Snapchat.

Heidi Wilson, superintendent of the 350-student East End district based in Bigelow, said her district stopped sending home Chromebooks with students through eighth grade post-pandemic. It also implemented “No-Tech Tuesdays” where teachers were asked to put down anything with a cord. It participated in the governor’s pilot program last year. Next year will be a challenge when schools take phones away during lunch. The district is considering how to fill the time and has purchased booth seating to encourage interactions. 

Parents can be as big a challenge as the students when schools take away the phones. They’ve become accustomed to being able to contact their children at all times. Wilson said the school secretary’s enthusiasm in relaying messages is a key to a cell phone ban’s success. 

The No Cell, Bell to Bell Act is one of several efforts by Sanders and lawmakers to lessen the harms of students’ online activities. Another law passed this year prohibits social media platforms from engaging in practices evoking addictions or compulsive behaviors in minors. Another would let parents sue social media platforms if their children commit or try to commit suicide after being exposed to online content promoting suicide or self-harm, if the attempt results in significant bodily or cognitive harm. 

It remains to be seen how those laws will stand up in court. A federal judge declared unconstitutional Sanders’ 2023 law requiring minors to obtain parental consent before creating new social media accounts.

Regardless, Sanders deserves credit for raising the issue. 

Today’s graduating seniors do not know a world without the internet and cell phones. Those of us who are older remember that world, but we abandoned it for the digital-dominated one.

The internet and cell phones are wonderful tools that we need to keep, but so is a chainsaw. It can cut through wood quickly. It also can injure us, and it would drive us nuts if it were always running. 

That’s the internet. Humans were not made to communicate online, to define our community so remotely, or to absorb information by scrolling through a flashing barrage of often untrue claims. We have become a generation of high-functioning addicts who accomplish our tasks using half our brains while the other half is on a digital fix.

Students will benefit from having chunks of time away from these mesmerizing screens. They’ll learn better by reading books and interacting with others face to face. Hopefully, it will help them break the habit in their other waking hours. Maybe they’ll have a better lifelong relationship with this technology as a result. 

At the very least, during the school day they can be kids again. As Bentonville’s Jones said, “We’re not taking anything away from you. We’re giving you back freedom to learn, freedom to socially engage with your friends. Now, the principals say our lunchrooms are loud. Great! They’re in junior high. They need to be loud.”

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 19 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.