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Keller: Looking at the pushback to the proposed school cellphone ban in Massachusetts

By
Jon Keller
Jon Keller
Jon Keller is the political analyst for WBZ-TV News. His "Keller @ Large" reports on a wide range of topics are regularly featured during WBZ News at 5 and 6 p.m.
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Jon Keller

/ CBS Boston

The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.

Some Massachusetts school systems take student phones away during the school day, and there's a movement on Beacon Hill to extend that policy statewide. But there is pushback, saying cellphones can have benefits with education.

If your student's back to school checklist includes packing their cellphone, you might want to check with your local school first.  

Tutwiler: Schools see benefits when they ban phones

The state Secretary of Education was promoting that idea during a WBZ-TV interview, with Gov. Maura Healey saying she's ready to sign it.

"We've got to take this seriously if we're really serious about getting back to serving students appropriately," said Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, who claims the experience of schools that already lock up kids' phones during the school day testifies to the benefit. "I've seen firsthand what happens in a large school, Brockton High School, that allowed them in one year and did not in the next. Whole different place."

Cellphones are a "teachable" moment?

But to Karen Gross of Gloucester, former president of Southern Vermont College and author of several arguing against cellphone bans, the policy is a teachable moment squandered.

"Why not teach them that you can do amazing things with cellphones?" Gross said. "We need to learn to use cellphones well and learn about information ethics. Why not use this opportunity to teach rather than take away?"

According to  last fall, support for an in-school phone ban during classes collapses when it's extended to the entire school day. The most common reason cited: The need to connect in case of emergency. But Tutwiler is skeptical.

"I was never aware of a scenario where a parent or caregiver could not get in touch with a child for an appointment or because of some sort of emergency at home, there are systems in place that can facilitate that. So I would just lift that up as the reality," said Tutwiler.

The 38-2 vote in the Senate in favor of a statewide ban was overwhelming. Is it likely to pass the House as well? Probably, if it ever comes up for a vote there. But House Speaker Ron Mariano, a former public school teacher himself, has been non-committal on the subject. And Gross argued that some kids are so attached to their phones, banning them might boost absenteeism, something no one wants.

So while the school cellphone ban has a lot of momentum behind it, it wouldn't surprise me if it winds up on hold.

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