New effort to ban student phones in Ohio classrooms

(WJW) – Governor Mike DeWine is encouraging cell phone restrictions on students in Ohio schools. He’s calling for the state to follow the lead of districts like Akron that have banned phones from the classroom.

Governor DeWine said cell phones are detrimental to students learning and to children’s mental health. He said to get the most out of the school day, teachers should not have to compete with students’ phones.

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“What is happening today is bad,” said Governor DeWine during his State of the State Address on Wednesday. “If you don’t believe me, talk to a teacher, a principal, a superintendent. They will all tell you how distracting phones are in the classroom.”

DeWine said Ohio K-12 schools should ban or limit in-school smartphone use and wants the General Assembly to pass a bill concerning phones.

Last year the Akron Public School District implemented a new policy that requires high school and middle school students to secure their phones in a Yondr phone locking pouch every morning.

“I think it’s the right move,” said Don Zesiger, the Akron Schools Director of Security. “I think I see more bad than good with phones in the schools. A lot of staging fights, filming fights, posting fights, bullying and just being disruptive throughout the school day.”

Zesiger said students report they don’t feel as stressed during the day.

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“This has forced them to engage with each other and have conversations,” he said. “A lot of them admit that their stress level is much lower because they don’t have the anxiety of social media.”

The school district said that initially parents were worried but now the majority are supportive and can still contact their children through the office, administrators, and teachers.

Gov. DeWine is hoping to get programs similar to Akron’s into every district across the state. He also hopes to pass a new law requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to have social media accounts.

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