School districts nationwide are rescinding policies prohibiting cell phones in school

School districts nationwide increasingly are rescinding their policies prohibiting cell phones in school. School officials’ view of cell phones has evolved since the 1990s, when the phones were thought of as a tool for drug dealers. At one time, some states even classified possession of a cell phone in school a felony. Over the past two years, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Nevada have relaxed or abolished their bans on cell phones in school. Florida recently revised its law to make possession in school no longer a felony and leave punishment a matter for individual counties. According to William Scharff [sic], president of the American Association of State Policy Services, "There's a feeling across the land that it just ain't a big deal anymore. More and more states are taking a liberal attitude towards kids carrying phones." Most of the new policies demonstrate grudging acceptance. They run the gamut, from requiring phones to be displayed in plain sight to banning certain kinds of phones, like those with cameras out of fear of locker-room high jinks. One common element is that the policies ban the use of the phones and other electronics during class time.

[Editor’s Note: Bill Scharffe is president of NSBA’s American Association of State Policy Services, an organization for policy services staff of the state school boards associations.]