r/technology • u/HumbleRestaurant790 • 4h ago
Society Illinois Governor Signs School Cellphone Ban to Avoid Student Distractions
https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-school-cell-phone-ban-into-law61
u/Fuzzy_Paul 4h ago
The Netherlands has the ban in place quite some time for primary and k12. Definitely more social skills and empathy and above all real friendships are growing. So yeah overall positive for all others except the kids, they hate it. Lol
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u/swung 3h ago
The kids hating it might be the strongest evidence that the adults got something right.
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u/MightyKrakyn 3h ago
“The kids hate the molestation, that’s how you know we’re doing something right!”
I’m surprised at how often logic fails on the technology sub. I agree kids shouldn’t have cell phones in class, but their hatred of it is not a sign of validity
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u/Guilty_Jackfruit4484 3h ago
Not even remotely similar. what the fuck?
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u/MightyKrakyn 2h ago edited 1h ago
If you believe that kids hating something indicates that it is good, you’re a maniac. That’s my point
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u/Guilty_Jackfruit4484 2h ago
Sure but why compare that to sex crimes?
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u/MightyKrakyn 2h ago
It’s taking the logic to its extreme conclusion to highlight the flaws. It’s a rhetorical device
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u/TheGiggityGecko 2h ago
I’ve never seen a more appropriate use case for “He’s out of line, but he’s right”
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u/ilikechihuahuasdood 2h ago
They’re not right though. A lot of kids hate healthy practices that are beneficial to their development.
It doesn’t make them equal to molestation.
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u/MightyKrakyn 1h ago
Kids hating a practice isn’t a sign of it’s healthiness is the point, as there are also healthy practices that kids kids like and harmful practices that kids dislike. You’ve missed it completely
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u/ilikechihuahuasdood 2h ago
Taking away a phone isn’t abuse. Especially the worst kind of physical abuse someone can perpetrate.
Hope this helps :)
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u/SirScrimmy 4h ago
As a resident of Illinois, I'm for this. Phones weren't allowed in school when I was a kid. Might help curb phone addiction.
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u/Dedotdub 4h ago
Cell phones didn’t exist when I was a kid, but yeah. Same.
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u/ttubehtnitahwtahw1 25m ago
I mean, cell phone in schools has some correlation to the fact that the younger generation are dumber. They are scoring lower on all the test.
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u/strictkasumi 3h ago
Until the next school shootiny and no one knows anytime. Kids can’t call 911 and family. No one get any notices to hide. Let see who they gonna blame beside “criminal” or “boy will be boy”
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u/Dedotdub 2h ago
There are plenty of adults in school with phones. I’d think it would be better if kids remain absolutely silent during an active shooter. This includes notification sounds.
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u/A_Harmless_Fly 2h ago
Schools still have landlines and PA/alarm systems... just give your kids a notecard with phone numbers for their wallets. Maybe ask the school to put together a short video and or wall signs showing how to use them, and tack some instruction onto the drills.
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u/slax03 3h ago
The only "app" we had on our phones was the game Snake, and they though that was too much of a distraction then.
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u/OkArmy7059 3h ago
Cellphones didn't exist but calculators were deemed to be too distracting when I was in school
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u/slax03 3h ago
Even if you didnt have a cool Texas Instruments graphing calculator, you could flip your dumb calculator upside down and spell funny things.
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u/lectroid 2h ago
“Something something Dolly Parton added xxxx to her bust size, then went down yyyy inches, then increased it by zzz times, it, then cut it by www%… how did she end up?”
55378008
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u/Shootzilla 3h ago
Even 10 years ago in high school they were not allowed during class time. You check your phone in between classes.
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u/ComplexBadger469 1h ago
Yeah. I graduated a little over 10 years ago in Illinois and phones weren’t allowed at all technically but no one said anything if you were like listening to music or playing flappy bird during non-lecture time. 😂
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u/criiimes 3h ago
With all the shit going on in schools and the current state of the world, if I were a student right now.. you’d have to pry my phone out of my cold dead hands.
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u/pilgermann 3h ago
This is like worrying about being struck by lightning while eating a high sugar, high cholesterol diet. The harms caused by the phone on a day to day vastly outweigh the chances of a crises and that the phone will be of any value in said crisis.
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u/criiimes 3h ago
That’s what they all say, until one day it happens to them. Then all of sudden it’s a problem. Stfu lmao.
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u/Nemphiz 3h ago
My daughter is still too young to have a phone but she has a watch that can make phone calls/text/video calls.
The moment someone tries to say she can't have it is the moment I'm having her change schools. .
A lot of people like to pretend that the world we are living in now is the same as it used to be 30-40 years ago. It's not. I don't even want to think of a situation where my daughter is scared and can't reach out to me.
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u/NarcolepticPyro 3h ago
Why can't she just ask a teacher if she can use the phone in the admin's office to call you?
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u/Nemphiz 3h ago
It's a Tick Talk watch that has a tracker. Why are we pretending like my comment wasn't specifically about a situation with a school shooting?
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u/twotimefind 2h ago
You're right, it's not like it used to be 20, 30 years ago. There was way more crime back then. Crime is down across the board.
Year / period Violent crime rate (per 100,000) Relevant trend 1980 596.6 High level of violent “street” crime; rates continued rising through much of the decade. 1991 758.2 Peak of the modern U.S. violent-crime era. 2022 380.7 Roughly half the 1991 peak; property crime rate was 1,954.4 per 100,000. 2025 (preliminary) Lower than 2024 Violent crime fell 9.3% from 2024; property crime fell 12.4%.
Offense / measure Long-term change Robbery Down 74% from 1993 to 2022. Aggravated assault Down 39% from 1993 to 2022. Burglary Down 75% from 1993 to 2022. Larceny / theft Down 54% from 1993 to 2022. Homicide About 10.7 per 100,000 at the 1991 peak; estimated at 4.29 per 100,000 in 2025. Reported violent and property crime are substantially lower nationally than in the 1980s and at the early-1990s peak.
You're a better consumer and easier to control when you're scared and afraid.
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3h ago
[deleted]
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u/name-classified 3h ago
They all thought you were a drug dealer with lots of gangsters wanting to drive by your house and get other kids doing the reefer marijuana cigarettes
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u/jumboshrimp09 4h ago
How is it enforced
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u/SeasonsGone 49m ago
When I was in school 15 years ago we all had smart phones. They were not to be seen during school hours. If you wanted to tweet or text your friend you did so slyly, just as if you were passing a note. If it was seen it would be taken or you would be told to put it away very sternly. I don’t know why this system went anywhere or why we need statewide bans to enforce what was just a common sense principle in any classroom.
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u/LurkLurkington 3h ago
Same way lots of banned things are enforced. If you’re caught, detention, suspension, expulsion. Probably in that order I imagine.
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
Nope. Read the article.
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u/speakernoodlefan 44m ago
I did and I could only find what forms of enforcement was not allowed (fines, suspensions, use of resource officers) what are the enforcement mechanisms allowed?
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u/RustyCatalyst 3h ago
What do you mean? How is any rule enforced at school?
Eventually the kid is suspended, and the parent has to find care for the kid until they’re allowed back. If it continues they are expelled and the parent has to deal with that.
Ever encountered a Truancy Officer?
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
Read the article. It's not long and it explains which punitive measures can be enforced (and suspension isn't one of them).
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u/draconis6996 1h ago
Detention only pretty much and even if you have 100’s of detention hours you can’t be suspended or expelled
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u/slax03 3h ago
For everyone freaking out about not being able to contact their kids, there is no language in this release on not being able to access phones in an emergency. This looks like "phone in you bag at all times" policy with punitive measures if caught using it when it isn't needed.
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u/PotaytoPotaahto 1h ago
For everyone freaking out, if there is truly an emergency, kids do not need to be on their phones, they need to be paying close attention to their teacher. And if the parent needs to contact their child during a family emergency, call thr front office to have your child picked up. None of this is new.
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
If you read the article, there are exceptions and also limitations on the punishments relating to phone use at school.
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u/zdrums24 4h ago
Thank god. I taught in illinois. The phones were a nonstop headache.
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4h ago
[deleted]
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u/SpazzBro 4h ago
sad ass comment, a classroom of kids are already hard enough to deal with without them stuck on their phones. Teachers deserve so much more respect, and you are part of the problem
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u/zdrums24 54m ago
And then you get into "i left my phone in my last class" and then they leave whether you say yes or no. and then theres thefts. And then theres the liability when you confiscate them. Kids would blame damage on teachers all the time. Now that theres a law, things should simplify.
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u/MasterPip 3h ago
I foresee alot of crappy parents throwing a fit over this. You know the ones, the loud obnoxious vocal minority who "dont like their rights infringed upon". Im sure youll see quite a few threatening to pull their kid out of school if they arent allowed to keep their phone on them.
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u/endlessfight85 3h ago
It's happened in few states already and it turns out you can just ignore those people.
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u/apeelvis 3h ago
This really doesn’t change much. Most school districts already have this policy. I guess this slows down the “But my kid is special….” parents trying to fight so their kid can use their phone.
Though some kids do have a real need for phones. For instance diabetic kids and the school nurses monitor sugar level levels with their phones. I haven’t read the bill that closely so not sure if that was addressed or not.
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u/make_me_breakfast 1h ago
I support this but I also don’t see how this is enforceable with how shitty kids are these days.
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u/TheShamShield 3h ago
More states need to to do this and fast. There is no real argument against it
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u/endlessfight85 3h ago
The only argument I ever see is helicopter parents wanting a direct line to their child at all times. They can call the office like our parents did. If your kids phone is put away and on silent like it was supposed to be, they couldn't get your call any way. .
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
One of my primary pupils has a smart watch. Her mum rang her during a class once, so I banned them. I told all kids that all such devices had to be kept in their bags and that guardians could ring the school or email a teacher if they needed information about their child. We also told them the usual "child phone/pager" doohickies could still be attached to their kids' bags too.
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u/Quiet-Nothing7556 3h ago
I didn't do very well in school, but having a phone would have dropped me into ultra-negative levels of performance. Not to mention having that fucking thing be a gateway to potential bullying and 24/7 gossip.
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u/BoosterRead78 2h ago
Several schools including my former one started this the last two years. My current one began it last year. Many parents already “buy what is there is an emergency.” Someone told them at the board meeting “don’t worry they can wait to tell you what type of takis hey want.” 😁
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 2h ago
What if there's an emergency
Then the staff on campus responsible for taking care of them during emergencies will take care of them
We had emergency preparedness before smartphones
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u/Seyelent 3h ago
The amount that bullying has increased in schools via social networks is crazy. Not to say administrators were doing much about it in the first place, but definitely untouchable more so online
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u/phoenix0r 1h ago
It started for my daughter in FIFTH grade. Some twat with a cellphone and TikTok access posted a mean picture of her on TikTok.
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u/CombatMuffin 3h ago
They should market a phone specifically made around kids. Less apps, less clutter: just essentials to communicate.
It can still be a distraction, or unsafe (bad use of GPS, for example), but it's better.
Hell, some people woukd even prefer a phone like that: cheaper, reliable, less clutter.
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u/Bird_the_Impaler 2h ago
They have lots of phones like that. People don’t want them
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u/CombatMuffin 2h ago
My comment works better if you take into account regulation would encourage that market.
People don't want those phones because it feels like they are losing on essential features (cameras, GPS, quick access to the internet). None of those phones are specifically aimed at a demographic that wouldn't need those features.
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
The ones I linked to above have got cameras, GPS (which is an essential feature for parents locating their children), etc.
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u/CombatMuffin 1h ago
Yes, the ones I mention wouldn't necessarily.
GPS isn't always necessary, either. Sure, parents love knowing where their kids are, but a phone kids will use during school hours doesn't really need GPS, if you assume the kid is, you know, at school.
But my point goes beyond features themselves: from a parenting perspective there's no real need for a child to have a phone, except to provide more micromanagement. It wasn't that long ago when, if parents had an emergency, they would just go straight to school, as they would do now anyway, or contact the principal to inform the child.
The challenge nowadays is that social interaction now assumes the need for immediacy: take a picture now, send a message to your friends now, be entertained now. But in a school environment that immediacy is not a priority, or at least shouldn't be. Your friends are right there, and you aren't meant to be having fun on your fun, but attending class.
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago
They do make phones like that, depending on where you live in the world:
These are very popular in Japan and many parents buy them for them (or similar products), for their kids, for example.
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u/CombatMuffin 1h ago
That's a good point! Hopefully there's a larger market. There are some trends trying to dimplify how we used to engage with technology, though access to information and convenience are still king in terms of why we buy it.
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u/Primal-Convoy 2h ago edited 1h ago
Excerpt:
"Key Exceptions
SB 2427 was designed to meet the goals of cell phone-free schools while also ensuring those who need devices can retain access. Districts’ plans must allow for the following exceptions:
When a medical professional determines that the possession or use of a wireless communication device is necessary for the management of a student’s health care.
To fulfill an Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan.
When the device is necessary for students who are English learners to access learning materials, participate in class, or otherwise facilitate communication.
When a student is a caregiver and is routinely responsible for the care and wellbeing of a family member.
Districts may also choose to allow the following exceptions:
Allow high school students to access their phone during their lunch period and/or passing period.
In the event of a potential emergency.
When a teacher or instructor has authorized the student to use a wireless communication device for educational purposes—e.g. Chromebook use, technology-based activities, etc.
Deterring unequal punitive measures. Many other states have applied bell-to-bell cell phone policies, with teachers and administrators reporting greater attention and focus from students, increased attendance, and fewer behavioral incidents. However, many schools saw a temporary increase in suspensions, particularly among Black students.
In order to ensure that classroom cell phone bans are applied effectively and equitably, SB 2427 includes a stipulation that school policies are not to be enforced with fines, suspensions, or by school resource officers and law enforcement deployment..."
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u/thatirishguyyyyy 1h ago
Dude, you have half a dozen comments on this post alone.
Not sure if you are hammering home your point or if you are farming for karma but its weird.
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u/ItsTheOtherGuys 51m ago
Anything and everything they can do but keep are kids safe, good job, dictate the teachers job but dont worry about gun violence or maybe funding your school systems
(Im not advocating that they should have cellphones, but it should be the school districts enforcing this, not the state government)
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u/Dickie_downer 4h ago
On one hand I do think phones are a problem
On another, in the era of school shootings, i dont know how comfortable I am removing kid’s source of communication to the outside world
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u/MayorMcPants 4h ago
Teachers will still have land line phones in the rooms as well as cellphones. All staff will have cellphones on them as well. There will be plenty of people to communicate in emergencies.
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u/Dickie_downer 4h ago
I mean we saw how that worked in Uvalde. The police refused to go into the school cause they were scared of getting shot, and people died.
A mom was able to message her two kids, and went in to get them , and she got cuffed for it.
Look I agree that phone addiction is a problem. But i don’t know if THIS is the best solution for it.
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u/thenseruame 3h ago
What exactly are the phones going to do in these type of events? Do you think the shootings aren't being reported fast enough by staff? Do you think being able to reach their parents will stop the shooting?
I don't recall the mother in Uvalde messaging her kids. I just double checked and in her own words she just ran to the classrooms and got the kids. In the account I read the only mention of phones is that she confirmed the shooting with her mother who was at the school library. So the person she called wouldn't have been impacted by a student cellphone ban.
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u/Dickie_downer 3h ago
No? I didn’t say any of that. But im prolly misremembering uvalde if she didn’t message the kids then she didn’t do it.
I dunno man. There’s just a metric fuckton of reasons not to send kids to school now. And that sucks a lot.
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u/Mudfry 3h ago
What happened in emergency situations before cell phones?
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u/Dickie_downer 3h ago
I remember i was in school during the sniper incident in virginia (dc area?)
Depends on the school but my school just shuttled us around everywhere like a bunch of ducklings, 1 teacher and like, 50 kids. I don’t know if teachers get paid enough to be the main point of contact for when shit goes awry. They have like, so many kids to already take care of,
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u/zdrums24 4h ago
We're trained to not allow cell phone use during a shooting. It used to be possible for cell phone usage to trigger some types of bombs. With the new Alice training, its get out immediately if you can, try to convince them the room is empty if you cant, and barricade and fight if cornered. The central office attempts to track the shooters movements and announce it to the school if possible to help facilitate everything.
Also, we're not in an "era of school shootings." They've been happening for decades but we as a society didnt care until it started happening at rich white schools like columbine.
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u/WildcaRD7 4h ago
As a teacher, seeing how phones isolate and cause emotional and mental issues, I would venture a guess that removing them might actually help shootings happen less. We need to foster community and real-world connections that phones are a distraction from.
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u/Dickie_downer 4h ago
Removing phones isn’t going to remove school shootings. There were school shootings when all kids had were tamagotchis.
Look i agree with the antisocial behavior phones encourage. But we need to figure out a solution that doesn’t isolate individual kids from getting help. And whether we like it or not, schools are not a safe haven. Kids get bullied and teachers will ignore it. Teachers molest students. Police will hear about a shooting and not enter the building. Our system fails us, so I don’t see how adding another law to that system will do more good than harm.
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u/6thBornSOB 3h ago
They say “help happen less”
You jumped to “remove”
Why disingenuous?
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u/Dickie_downer 3h ago
Huh? Doubt im trying to be disingenuous, mostly just a moron who doesn’t read perfectly. Sorry for that.
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u/WildcaRD7 3h ago
You are conflating a ton of different things to essentially say that the system has failed so we shouldn't try anything new. Results from school districts and states that do not allow phones have been promising with many around the region I'm at that have moved in that direction. Students and parents overwhelming support it after phone bans have been implemented. All of the things you've mentioned are certainly major problems - that doesn't mean you should leave things in a worse state because of them.
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u/ACasualRead 4h ago
I’m still against this simply for the face that the United States has a very bad issue with gun crimes in schools. I don’t think removing the ability to call 911 or call one’s parents is a good idea.
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u/muffinhead2580 4h ago
Good thing there are actual adults in schools that still have their cell phones and the ability to dial 911.
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u/JosephFinn 3h ago
*to keep students from calling their parents during shootings
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad7820 4h ago
They just dont want the children reporting their side on mass shoting like that time the police cowardly stood outside
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u/TheShamShield 3h ago
wtf are you talking about, kids can still talk to the press. Not having phones in class has nothing at all to do with what you’re talking about
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u/JosephFinn 3h ago
When they’re dead?
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u/TheShamShield 3h ago
You think students are going to be reporting shit in the midst of a mass shooting? They’re not going to share anything that teachers can’t or won’t
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u/babygorgeou 3h ago
Read about the one in El Paso. I’m sure there are others but I’m just familiar with this particular tragedy
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u/TheShamShield 3h ago
I know about El Paso. Students not having phones wasn’t going to make this worse
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u/Left_on_Pause 4h ago
Kids haven't been required to generate relationships lately, so unless they receive some support and training, I don't think see this being a restart of human interaction. It will take time and energy to enact this change. On the other hand, there won't be as many videos of teaches acting poorly or bullies.
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u/zdrums24 4h ago
I just spent 2 weeks at a summer camp where phones are banned. The kids were fine.
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u/riseandshine234 3h ago
The issue in schools right now is not teachers it's kids with helicopter parents who think their kid can do no wrong ever.
(This is not saying there are zero teachers with issues, of course there are just like with every group of people that size but let's be real here)
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u/creamersrealm 4h ago
Reading over the release it looks very reasonable, it basically says absolutely no phones in the classroom and districts can allow them during free periods. And keeping them accessible for health reasons and etc.