A proposal out of Harrisburg to ban personal internet-ready devices from schools — cellphones, smartwatches — statewide, feels like a decision best left to local districts and even at a more micro level, school leaders within those districts.
Allegheny County Democrat Anthony DeLuca modeled his proposal after a school district in his area rolled out a similar program. Penn Hills School District, in Allegheny County, began a pilot program at its middle school this year.
In the school, the 700 students lock their communication devices into something. According to the district’s policies, pouches can’t be opened before students exit the building for the day. For repeat violations, students can risk losing their devices until a parent retrieves them at the end of the school day.
Penn Hills officials, DeLuca said, were encouraged by the new policy, saying it led to more student-teacher engagement and improved student culture.
In DeLuca’s statewide proposal, local schools would oversee and create their own policies, which would need to be approved by the state Department of Education.
People in school — from students to teachers to administrators — have plenty of distractions, and access to a phone or smartwatch is certainly near the top of the list. Minimizing those distractions by limiting access is not necessarily a bad thing.
But a blanket ban isn’t the best option. Consider how many students at all grade levels use computers or some sort of online technology during a school day to help in learning.
Local school districts should make those decisions. The rules may not, and probably should not, match in different schools within the same district, or even at the classroom level.
If the technology is helpful to a student without being a distraction or disruption to others, it should be permitted.
Mark DiRocco, the former Lewisburg Area superintendent who is now the executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, called a statewide law misguided. Such decisions should be made locally, he said.
At Lewisburg, DiRocco said restrictions were made locally and were often tighter on middle school students.
“For the state to get down to that level of (oversight) in districts, we think it’s something better for local officials to handle,” DiRocco said.
Kids might need their phones to do research or fact check a source, recheck math calculations. In today’s modern classrooms, they may need to record a video or audio. In an emergency, they can check in with mom and dad.
If technology is properly managed in each classroom and in each school — with clear guidance, limit and restrictions in place — it seems reasonable to let those decisions happen as close to the classroom door as possible.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in The Daily Item’s editorials are the consensus of the publisher, top newsroom executives and community members of the editorial board. Today’s was written by Editor William Bowman.
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