On February 12th the Utah Senate passed legislation prohibiting the use of cellphones and smart watches in K-12 classrooms.
Up till now, policies have been left up to individual districts. SB178, authored by Senator Lincoln Filmore (R-South Jordan), would set a default statewide policy prohibiting cellphone and smartwatch use during class but allowing districts to set their own policy.
Filmore states that the bill continues to allow for local control and merely resets the state’s default policy.
“Local control is so important in education,” Fillmore said. “But that has led school districts to have to restrict these devices in order to limit the damage. This bill would just flip that dynamic, having the state just set a default of no cellphones in classrooms.”
The bill has drawn bipartisan support and was passed by the Senate unanimously, but has drawn opposition from some groups advocating for local authority such as the Utah Republican Women’s Liberty Caucus.
Fillmore suggests his proposal will shift conversation in each district toward how to integrate technology rather than how to keep students safe and avoid distractions.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe (D-Cottonwood Heights), who is a teacher, praised the bill for not being “heavy-handed.”
“I also like this bill because it addresses the fact that you don’t have to take their phones away from them,” she said explaining that some of her students have to use cell phones as translators or to help take care of younger siblings.
The proposal moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.