Cellphones and kids

Smartphones don’t sit lightly in our lives. They buzz and chirp for attention. They stealthily ship some of our secrets to who-knows-where. They cling to some teenagers like an infestation.

The Legislature may step in and dictate a policy for students while they are in school. There’s no official proposal, yet. It sounds like it might be: The state says phones must be safe and stowed away during class — but not an outright ban from school grounds.

The House Interim Committee on Education had Thursday a discussion about cellphones at school kicked off by state Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend.

“This is not a campaign of the self-righteous,” Levy said. “This is not about (whether) technology is bad or good. It is the time, place and manner with which we use it.”

Levy immediately brought up safety and access to phones during an emergency. She said she knows that is a concern for parents. And she said any policy will be made with that in mind.

Some schools across Oregon already make efforts to ban phones during class. The Bend-La Pine Schools had a new rule last year in the middle schools and this year in the high schools. Phones, smartwatches, earbuds are supposed to be silent and away during class, the district told us. The rules were stricter for middle school students. The restrictions covered the whole school day. High school students were allowed to use phones during breaks and lunch in designated areas.

We have talked to some high school students in the Bend schools about phone use. It was an unrepresentative, tiny sample. They reported that some teachers would require all the phones be collected at the start of class. Others would allow phones to be used, perhaps in the last minutes of class for students to do whatever they wish. It would seem the rules for Bend schools may be irregularly enforced.

It adds up that there is a correlation between being hunched over a phone, clicking and scrolling, bombarded by notifications and updates — social and peer pressures, and not good things happening for teen mental health or even adult health. Or learning. But some of the information presented to the Legislature Thursday was actually part of an article in The Atlantic last year suggesting that the concern is ahead of the conclusive science available. And, well, smartphones put so much utility at the ends of fingers.

Does that mean the Legislature should let school districts set their own policies for phones and wait around for more studies before taking action? Probably not.

Tell your legislators what you think.