Governor JB Pritzker has signed legislation requiring all school districts to adopt policies that broadly restrict the use of cell phones or other personal electronic communication devices during school hours, unless given permission to use them. West Central Superintendent Eric Lawson says it will be an adjustment, but eventually lead to increased student engagement:
“It is something that has been on the radar for school districts throughout the state for some time. Cell phones are a blessing and a curse. As a parent, the curse is what are our kids supposed to do in the time of an emergency. You have to put trust in the school district to have our policies and procedures in place to be able to get messages out to emergency personnel. The blessing, in our opinion, is the cell phones tend to be more of a distraction in class, where students become more dependent on being on cell phones and less student engagement,” states Lawson.
“We really want to restrict the amount of time of students being on their cell phones. We want to work with students and parents to make sure that those cell phones are tucked away in lockers. It is going to take an adjustment period, but as long as we stick to our standard and we stick to what our expectations are, we send the message that we are trying to enhance socialization. We want student engagement. We want you to communicate without using your cell phone,” Lawson adds.
The “bell-to-bell” device bans are required to be in place across Illinois school districts prior to the 2027-2028 academic year.
