A contingent of parents from western Pennsylvania traveled to Harrisburg to support legislation for phone-free schools on Monday.

The PA Unplugged group attended the State House Education Committee hearing on a bill to mandate phone-free schools in Pennsylvania. Legislators heard from a psychologist, a school counselor and the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers, which represents the police on school campuses.

Dr. Beth Sanborn, the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers and a former school resource officer herself, spoke about kids using smartphones in an emergency at school. One of the primary arguments against banning kids' personal cell phones is that parents want to be able to reach their child if there's an active shooter or emergency; however, Sanborn says that is not what their organization representing school resource officers says is best.

"In crisis situations, cell phones create chaos. If students are connecting with parents or calling friends instead of following instructions, they can miss critical information and fail to notice what's happening around them. What we rely on is for our students and staff to be aware of their immediate surroundings — what they see, hear and smell and specific instructions of trained staff members," Sanborn said. 

Sanborn went on to say to legislators, "There is not an emergency plan anywhere that includes a student using a personal cell phone. Bell-to-bell phone-free policies aren't about punishment. They're about protection. What we've seen firsthand is the relief our students are experiencing when they no longer feel tethered to a device to pay attention to what's happening — with who, where and when, whether they're included or excluded."

Psychologist Dr. Mitch Prinstein, the American Psychological Association's chief dealing with education issues, testified, saying, "Recent data shows high schoolers spend an average of 20 or more minutes an hour at school on their devices. So a third of every hour is spent on their phones. Second, we know that device use likely obstructs learning. Research shows that most humans cannot multi-task but are rapidly task-shifting — a process associated with poor memory and comprehension among youth."

A school counselor told legislators that when they removed phones from their school all day, it transformed the school experience in a positive way.

The Pennsylvania House and Senate are considering legislation to ban phones in schools all day — something that 20 other states have already done.

For more on what schools in western Pennsylvania are doing with phone policies, check out more stories here.

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