DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a pair of bills that will require K-12 school districts across Michigan to prevent students from using their personal devices in the classroom.
During a ceremony in Waverly High School just west of Lansing on Tuesday, the Governor put her signature on Senate Bill 495 and House Bill 4141 which both received bi-partisan support.
The new laws call for districts to create action plans to keep kids off their phones, except for emergencies and academic use. Exact details of what policies have to look like were left up to the individual school systems.
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“I’m proud to sign these bipartisan bills that will help prioritize academic success and support youth mental health,” said Whitmer. “We know that when students put their phones down, their grades go up. These bills will help keep kids focused in the classroom and break their growing dependency on screens and social media. We could all benefit from looking up at the world instead of down at our phones.”
Over half of state in the U.S. have a phone ban for classrooms, according to the Governor's Office. Device use has been found to contribute to a rise in anxiety and depression in teens, along with a decrease in attention spans, per Whitmer.
"Phones are addictive. They're an addiction, and they have to be treated as such," said a Waverly High School student. "As young people we are the leaders of today, but we are also the leaders of tomorrow and we have to be ready to take on that responsibility .High school is a place where you learn, you make mistakes, and you grow from them, but it's really hard to do that when your entire life exists within one tiny screen."
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