How a cellphone ban in Florida is affecting students

Florida recently passed a ban on cellphone use during class time and some schools are putting even stricter restrictions on students, The New York Times reported.

Florida public schools are to prohibit student cellphone use during instructional time and block students’ access to social media on district Wi-Fi, the law says. It also requires schools to teach students about the effects social media has on their behavior. 

Officials in Orange County Public Schools — the nation’s eighth-largest school system — said after the pandemic that students’ attachment to their phones was intensified. Students rarely looked up from their phones while walking down hallways and recorded and posted other students on social media platforms, according to The Times. 

The school district isn’t allowing students to use their phones during the entire school day, and some parents and students told The Times the rules are too strict, adding that students should be able to communicate with parents during passing periods. 

Some students say the ban is problematic because they don’t feel as safe not being able to reach out to parents or authorities if something dangerous happens at schools. 

On the first day of the ban, school officials confiscated more than 100 phones, and phone-related incidents, like bullying, have decreased. 

To enforce the ban, security officers are riding in golf carts during breaks and confiscating any phones they see, The Times reported. Students must go to the front office to call their parents.