Bell-to-bell phone bans spark reactions in NJ, PA schools

Leaders in New Jersey today touting its new bell-to-bell ban on cell phones in schools. We're only about two months into the school year here, but the governor says teachers can already see a big difference. And Greg, even students admit they're seeing a benefit to the ban, right? Yeah, no, everybody is saying that they are feeling the impact of this. And your, you know, bell-to-bell ban for cell phones, it is a major change, and it's something that New Jersey students, they're getting used to, and Pennsylvania students, they're going to be doing the same relatively soon. The bell to bell cell phone ban is changing the very culture of learning here in classrooms. Nearly two months into the New Jersey bell to bell cell phone ban, and New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill says the impact is evident. Students are more present, classrooms are calmer. And for the first time in a while, hallways are filled with the sounds of conversations instead of notifications. A statement being echoed by a student we spoke with at Cherry Hill East High School. Definitely at first, some people were, like, opposed to it. They weren't sure, like, in the summer when it came out how it was going to go. But I think now that it's been implemented, people agree that it's been really positive. You know, like, I'll talk to my friends at lunch, and they're just, like, happy to talk to me and, like, I don't know, having conversation. And the success of the ban hasn't gone unnoticed by neighbors to the west. Lawmakers in Harrisburg moving quickly to catch up. The Pennsylvania Senate overwhelmingly voting to pass the bell-to-bell ban that now awaits Governor Josh Shapiro's signature. I think, for one, it just creates consistency among schools, which is huge, especially for kids that are in more transient populations that go into one school to another school. It's not a whole different expectation. Plus, yeah, it just allows schools to focus on the learning as opposed to focus on having to manage distractions in the classroom. They hand their phone in. They get a card. The teacher has it. Give them the card. They get the card, 23. they put their phone in a box. West Philadelphia High School is one of several schools in the state that already has tight restrictions on cell phone use. Their system makes students put their phones in a box during class. But while students and parents at West Philadelphia High School are excited for this statewide ban to put all the schools under the same guidelines, one student expresses some concern about not being able to use her phone at all. I think a lot of kids will agree with me because mostly kids who don't speak a lot of English, but we need our phone to always translate to get the best information that we can because English is not our first language and we need the phone to always translate. Now the bell to bell ban now sits on the desk of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's desk and he is expected to sign it. Sheba? Very interesting that that young student, that point that she brought up about needing the phone to translate. So hopefully there's some sort of workaround for the students in that case. I know the Pennsylvania piece of legislation makes accommodations for those who are disabled. So she's not disabled, but she clearly needs it in that case. Have you seen any pay phones out there, Greg? That's a joke because, you know, when I was in school, we needed the pay phones because we didn't, there were no cell phones. So, you know, we're going to take it old school. At first, I didn't know if you were joking, so I was nervous to laugh, and then I realized I was like, no, she's joking. Yeah, I mean, if we're going to take it old school, we might as well take it all the way back old school, you know. Tell them they need to get some pay phones out there, you know, so they can call their moms collect. All right, Greg Payne, thank you.