A bill that would prohibit students from using cell phones and other personal electronic devices during the school day was introduced on Wednesday in the Vermont House Education Committee. H.54 would also prohibit schools from communicating with students through social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.
State Rep. Angela Arsenault (D-Williston), one of the bill’s 49 sponsors, told committee members that the bill presented lawmakers with “the opportunity to take decisive action on an identified problem in schools ” and “help increase student academic success, improve mental health and increase social cohesion.”
The bill directs all public and independent schools in Vermont to adopt and implement a policy prohibiting the use of cell phones and personal electronic devices, such as Apple Watches, from arrival to dismissal. This would alleviate the burden currently placed on teachers to police students’ cell phone use, Arsenault said. Students who rely on an electronic device for an approved medical use, such as blood-sugar monitoring, would be exempt from the policy. Students who have a special-education plan that calls for the use of an electronic device would also be exempt.
A second provision of H.54 says that schools may not communicate with students through social media. This is something that occurs frequently in the context of team sports, Arsenault said. “For example, a student who is new to the hockey team is told that they need to get Snapchat because that’s where the team keeps in touch,” she said.
“Given the known dangers and potential for harm caused by or experienced on social media, the endorsement or requirement of its use by a school district is rife with issues,” Arsenault added.
Last legislative session, lawmakers took up a similar bill, S.284, which would have prohibited the use of digital devices and social media in all Vermont schools. It also would have allowed students to opt out of using digital technology for instructional purposes. That bill, which had just four sponsors, died in the Senate.
The prospects for this year’s phone-free schools bill look brighter. It has more widespread support among legislators. Key groups, including the Vermont-NEA teachers union, have also signaled support for a statewide policy. And there is national momentum around the issue: Eight states have already enacted statewide policies limiting or banning cell phones in schools and others, including Massachusetts and New York, are moving in that direction.
Vermont schools that have recently gone phone-free may also provide compelling evidence to lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Harwood Union Middle and High School principal Meg McDonough told Seven Days this month that going phone-free has had “a powerful impact” on student engagement.
“We continue to feel grateful for our decision,” McDonough wrote in an email to Seven Days. “It quickly became a common practice and expectation that is now completely normalized.”