It would be easy to dismiss a proposed statewide ban on mobile phones in Utah’s public school classrooms as a political stunt. As another example of how the Legislature’s Republican supermajority, which supposedly champions small government and local control, is keen to stomp all over those principles if there are political points to be scored.
But this one might be worth a try.
The real threat that mobile phones pose to our younger generation, the bullying and shaming that make up so much of social media, won’t go away if our teens and tweens actually look away from their iPhones and Samsungs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days.
But parents and educators alike are increasingly worried that the phone-addiction that afflicts people of all ages — even if it’s nothing more harmful than amusing cat videos — have so rewired the brain chemicals of impressionable youth that getting them to pay attention in class has gone from difficult to impossible.
That’s why a legislative-imposed ban on the electronic drug stands a good chance of being adopted. Even though individual teachers, principals and school board already have the power to prohibit them.
As it now stands, the proposal would allow local districts to opt out if they create their own policies. So some local decision-making power remains.
In the 2025 session of the Legislature, if all the lawmakers and interested parties can put down their smartphones and look at each other long enough to hash out a workable policy, our children may greatly benefit.
Now, if we can only find a way to get their grandparents away from Fox News, we may have really accomplished something.