Report Gives Tennessee ‘C’ Grade For Cell Phone Policy In Schools

Image Credit: Phone Free Schools Report & Canva.

Article by the Tennessee Conservative News Staff –

A recently released report says Tennessee schools still are not successfully minimizing cell phone usage in classrooms, despite legislation requiring districts to implement cell phone bans.

According to the Phone-Free Schools State Report Card, Tennessee earned a 72.5, or a ‘C,’ for its current cell phone policy.

Current Tennessee law requires that all school districts adopt a policy banning cell phone usage during instructional time. While an all-day ban is allowed by the law, it is not mandated, and some believe that still gives children the opportunity to become distracted from learning throughout the day.

“For us, that really is almost one of the worst policies out there because students are still distracted during those passing periods; during lunch,” states Emily Rapp, the policy director for the Institute for Families and Technology. “They’re not able to gain that in-person time with one another, and that phone could just be right in the backpack, and there’s a huge urge to engage on your phone to maybe jump on a social media app and to be distracted.” 

Tennessee was one of eight states that received a ‘C’ rating. The state score was lower because the law also does not require a licensed medical professional’s approval for medical exemptions and does not require that all personal devices be included in the ban.

Rapp says school systems that have implemented an all-day ban have found this to be effective.

“We’ve just seen that students have the opportunity to be students again and also for teachers to no longer have to be the phone police,” Rapp said. “We know there’s a ton of distraction happening in today’s classrooms, and removing personal devices allows kids to flourish both in class and outside of class.”

Tennessee school districts that have stricter policies echo that sentiment.

Grant Swallows, director of Warren County Schools, told WKRN, “For us, it’s 7:45 to 2:45, we limit their individualized electronic devices. I know that sounds like it’s an extreme policy, but I can tell you in Warren County, Tennessee, it has been a game changer.” 

Legislators will continue to discuss technology usage in schools, although no specific plan to push for stricter cell phone policies has been announced.

Sources:

CDN.

Phone Free Schools Report.

WKRN.