A state lawmaker wants to restrict students’ use of cellphones in schools and require parents to give permission for their minor children’s use of social media.
“The nature of the smart devices and the connectivity and the barrage of notifications from social media sites, it’s causing great harm,” said Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, the sponsor of House Bills 5920 and 5921. “It’s reflected in an escalation in loneliness, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation and actual suicide rates.”
Tisdel proposed the legislation this month amid what has become a heated national debate over the safety of social media and concerns about excessive use of devices in schools. Many public schools in Michigan already restrict phones, from blanket bans that require students to keep them in lockers or special bags during the day to more flexible policies that allow use during recess. A statewide policy restricting device use would follow states like Florida that have already enacted similar policies.
What would a phone proposal do?
Tisdel said his proposal does not amount to a ban on devices in schools. Instead, it aims to limit the use of phones, especially when students are in class.
The legislation would require school boards to establish a cell phone policy by grade level:
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In groups 1 to 5, students are not allowed to have devices on the schoolyard.
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In groups 6 to 8, students are not allowed to use devices during lessons, breaks between lessons, lunch or recess.
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In grades 9 to 12, students are not allowed to use devices during class.
Critics of policies that restrict students’ phone use have raised concerns about school safety. During the November 2021 Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead, students communicated with their parents during harrowing moments of the attack, and some took videos.
But Tisdel said it’s “counterproductive” to think of phones as a means of safety in these times. First responders may not want a flood of 911 calls, and a cell phone ringing in a lockdown situation could alert an attacker to a student’s location.
“If you have an active shooter roaming the halls, you certainly don’t want a phone going off behind a closed door,” Tisdel said. “Bullets can go through doors. Bullets can go through some walls.”
What would the social media age verification law do?
Tisdel’s other proposal would make social media companies responsible for verifying users’ ages and require them to get parental permission to let minors use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. It would be up to the state’s attorney general to enforce that legislation, Tisdel said. Several states have passed or are considering similar proposals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a Denver-based organization that tracks state laws and statutes across the country.
In Utah, a similar law requiring social media platforms to verify the age of their users was blocked by a federal judge after a tech industry trade group filed a lawsuit, arguing the law was unconstitutional, according to The Verge.
Both bills are proposals and would have a long way to go before they were passed. Neither has yet been heard by a House committee.
Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on the Detroit Free Press: A Michigan lawmaker’s plan would ban cellphones during school hours
