Virginia to Ban Mobile Phones in Schools A New Initiative for Student Well-being

TapTechNews July 15th news, Virginia in the US will become the next state to ban the use of mobile phones in schools, and currently the state is exploring ways to make this measure more acceptable to students and teachers.

Executive Order No. 33 signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin aims to limit or completely ban the use of mobile phones during school hours, while also trying to balance the need to contact parents or communicate pickup and drop-off arrangements in emergency situations.

The Virginia Department of Education will work with the Department of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services to jointly formulate the definition of phone-free education. Schools may need to provide mobile phone bags or lockers, and students can only use mobile phones in emergency situations or when communicating with family members about pickup and drop-off matters.

Relevant details must be submitted to K-12 schools by August 15th, and the classroom mobile phone ban policy must be implemented this year. The governor's order cited a study by the American Psychological Association, which shows that children who use social media for more than three hours a day have a 100% increased risk of mental illness.

The executive order also points out that currently students use mobile phones for nearly five hours a day, far exceeding the psychological safety threshold. Another benefit of restricting mobile phone use in the classroom is to improve attention. Another study shows that students who use mobile phones during class have distracted attention and reduced learning efficiency, resulting in lower grades.

Virginia will allocate 500,000 US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 3.641 million RMB) to fund this measure, and a portion of the funds will be used for mental health initiatives or to develop and promote best practices for restricting mobile phone use in the classroom.

The authorities will collect public opinions through hearings to formulate policies and procedures suitable for different age groups. The final guidelines are expected to be released on September 16th and are planned to be implemented by January 1, 2025.

Before that, the two largest school districts in the US - New York City Public Schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District - announced last month that they will take similar actions to restrict mobile phone use in schools.