As a new school year begins, many schools throughout Maine have banned students from using their cell phones during the day.
This comes a few months after the State Legislature passed a bill requiring all school districts throughout the state to adopt policies regarding cell phone use by August of next year.
Although lawmakers originally considered outright banning cell phones from public schools statewide, they ultimately pulled back on this idea, leaving it instead up to each individual district in order to preserve Maine’s tradition of local control.
In its final form, the bill did not mandate explicitly how the boards are to decide or exactly what their policies for student cell phone use at school and in the classroom should say.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate agreed to adopt the amended version of this bill without taking any roll call votes.
The bill was then sent to Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) desk, where she signed it into law on June 9.
[RELATED: All Maine School Boards Have Just Over a Year to Decide on Their Student Cell Phone Use Policies]
According to Ballotpedia, 21 states have adopted statewide policies restricting or banning cell phone use in schools.
Three states — Alaska, Colorado, and Minnesota — have already adopted policies similar to Maine’s, requiring that all school districts adopt a smartphone policy but not specifying the form that such a policy must take.
Despite having another year to get their cell phone policies in place, many districts have already taken steps to regulate their students’ usage of these devices while they’re at school.
For example, Portland unanimously decided in June to bar students from having or using their phones during the school day starting this fall.
It has also been reported that Portland schools have taken action against vaping as well, installing sensors in the bathrooms that alert administrators if they are triggered.
In addition to Portland, York and Freeport have also recently taken action to prevent students from using their smartphones while at school.
As of now, about one third of Maine’s 109 school districts have voted to implement some sort of cell phone ban during the school day.
Students have raised concerns about not being able to communicate with family members in case of emergency and have also spoken out against the “punitive” nature of the policy.
Teachers, on the other hand, have praised the change as a streamlined way to help prevent distractions in the classroom.
