FORT THOMAS, Ky. — According to the National Library of Medicine, too much screen time can have detrimental effects on the social and emotional growth in children. House Bill 383 would prohibit cellphone use during school hours in elementary and secondary public schools across the state.
Brandon Long is a father of three, an educator, and a state representative candidate in northern Kentucky. Long said his children do not have cellphones, but have access to other devices so that they can communicate with him through email and Teams messaging.
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the House Education Committee unanimously passed HB 383, requiring local school districts to adopt a policy that prohibits the use of cellphones by students during class time—with some exceptions. Similar bills are being discussed in both Florida and Indiana. Long is against this.
He said, “I’m fearful as a candidate that the legislature is attempting another overreach that really dismantle his parental rights and does not empower administrators and teachers to set the culture of their classroom and the policies.”
Long said when he was teaching, he enforced his own policy.
He explained, “They would put their cellphones in a box when they came into the classroom at the beginning with their backpacks. And then there were also times where they were able to look at it and to check on it, because we really value that parental rights and that parental relationship for them to be able to talk.”
But State Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, believes this policy will have benefits.
Bray said, “There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that shows that mental health issues went down. Bullying has gone down. They’ve had fewer disciplinary issues and classroom behavior has gone up. You’ve got when you’ve got kids’ undivided attention, you know, you obviously stand a better chance of educating them.”
But Long said the policy does not protect educators, adding, “One thing that’s not mentioned is how are teachers going to handle this? Teacher’s work are… is already very difficult, and now they have to become the policemen of cellphone use.”
However, Bray said the aim of HB 383 is not to ban all technology in the classroom, but to decrease social use during educational hours.
Bray added, “If they’re using it as technology to help in the educational process, that’s absolutely still allowed. What’s not allowed is kids, you know, texting each other, staying on Facebook or TikTok or YouTube.”
Long says he will continue to advocate for children, educators and schools to decide what’s best for their classrooms.