High school cellphone ban advances at State Capitol

Should cellphones be banned in all Georgia schools?

The Georgia House has passed a proposal to extend the state's bell-to-bell cell phone ban to public high schools, building on last year's restriction for grades K-8.

ATLANTA - Georgia high schoolers could soon be required to stash their cellphones from the first bell to the last under a new proposal moving through the state Capitol.

What we know:

The Georgia Assembly last year passed a statewide prohibition on all electronic personal devices during class hours at public schools in grades K-8. This new bill would extend the ban to high schools.

"We are seeking to create a bell-to-bell, no cellphone policy in grades K-12 here in Georgia," said State Rep. Scott Hilton (R- 48), which includes Peachtree Corners. "The expectation will be, at the beginning of the day, the cellphone is put up, and the child is able to get that phone back at the end of the day."

Hilton, who introduced both measures, says keeping devices out of students’ hands when they should be learning will help kids focus. "We’ve seen that grades are up, test scores have improved, fights and discipline are down," Hilton said.

Hilton says the bill includes provisions for special-needs students and emergencies.

What they're saying:

"It’s very distracting for students," said Morgan, President of the Georgia Association of Educators. "Our students are using these wonderful communication devices to communicate with each other, not only their personal things. They are communicating plans for where they’re going to meet up, and obviously, we have a serious concern with cyberbullying," Morgan said.
 
Morgan, who’s also a kindergarten teacher, supports a proposal to ban personal devices in high schools. "This will improve education for our high school students and our educators as well. Everyone can focus on our purpose, which is teaching and learning," Morgan said.

The other side:

Victoria Cadavid, with Change for Chee, a school-safety advocacy group, acknowledges the ban could help students focus.

But she worries whether students will be able to get to their phones during a crisis like the deadly mass shooting in 2024 at Apalachee High School.

"They don’t want what happened at Apalachee, regarding all the chaos, to happen in their school system," Cadavid said.