Seifried Looking to Limit Cell Phones in Classroom

Senator Ally Seifried has filed Senate Bill 1321 to create a pilot program for school districts wishing to limit cell phones in the classroom. Grant-style funding would be made available for up to nine middle or high schools to cover the costs for sites going cell phone free for the school day.

Seifried believes the program will show that when cell phones are out of the classroom, students will perform better.

“This bill is the result of many conversations with teachers, administrators and parents, who want their kids and students to be more engaged in the classroom,” Seifried said. “By limiting the distraction of cellphones at school, it will allow students to truly focus on their learning. One Rutgers study, showed that removing cellphones from the classroom increased students’ test scores by almost 7% and doubled that rate for low-achieving students.”

She contends that limiting cell phone use in school also addresses students’ mental health and wellbeing.

“Schools who have implemented these policies have seen discipline instances reduced, with bullying and anxiety decreased as well,” she added. “The beauty of this pilot program is it is voluntary and allows schools the flexibility to adopt the policies as they see fit based on their unique sites. We all inherently know that cell phones affect students’ achievement, learning, retention, and their mental health. I’m confident that, if this bill passes, at the conclusion of the three-year program period, the data will be overwhelmingly positive for the Oklahoma students who participated.”