As students all over Washington head back to the classroom for this school year, state lawmakers are already thinking ahead to the next.
As students all over Washington head back to the classroom for this school year, state lawmakers are already thinking ahead to the next.
Senator Mark Liias (D-Edmonds) is working, with the support of Gov. Bob Ferguson, on legislation to create a "bell-to-bell" cell phone policy for all public school students in the state.
"So, from the time students arrive until they leave at the end of the day, those devices would be out of reach," Liias said.
Liias said that while there is still "a lot of evidence emerging," the early studies show that "the farther the phone is from that student, the higher their GPA."
Liias said less screen time can also help with mental health. He said overall, the idea is simple: to create fewer distractions in the classroom, with only necessary exceptions.
"We definitely need some flexibility; there are unique contexts, we know that there are students who have serious medical needs where a device might be critical to monitoring their insulin levels, things like that," he said. "There are also places where we want schools to be teaching students about how to use phones properly, so if it's a class on media literacy, we may want the phone there, so that students can engage with activity."
Even for districts like Seattle Public Schools (SPS) that already have a cell phone policy, Liias said the district would need to standardize it under this bill to be what he called the "gold standard" bell-to-bell policy. Right now, SPS's policy allows students 9-12 (high school) to use phones during passing periods and lunch.
"We would want schools to look at, across grade levels, make sure there's consistency, and make sure it's following evidence-based practices," Liias said.
Liias said he wants to be sure the policy is made in conjunction with the community. But this is not the first time the legislature has considered similar legislation; in fact, it failed to pass just last session. But Liias said he believes this session, there is strong will and bipartisan support to get the bill across the finish line.
"There's been an emerging consensus that this was an issue where we're ready to see a statewide solution," he said. "The legislature often defers to local school districts; on this topic, there's just so much evidence coming in, and the harms to our students statewide are becoming more and more apparent."
The legislature does not meet again until next year, but Liias said the goal will be to get the bill to the governor's desk as quickly as possible.
