Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek supports ‘statewide approach’ on school cellphone policies

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek remembers sitting in classrooms as a teacher for a day as a legislator.

“You hang out in classrooms and watch the classroom environment,” she recalled.

“It’s very difficult for our educators to be able to do their job when students are on their devices, and it’s very difficult unless there is a coordinated approach to this, to help students get off their phones and focus in the classroom.”

Without specific state laws, it’s up to individual school districts in Oregon and Southwest Washington to come up with policies around cellphone use in schools. In some schools, policies and practices vary from classroom to classroom.

Kotek suggests a state-level policy around cellphones in schools.

“I think this is an important enough issue that this should be a statewide approach and not leave it up to district by district because I think that’ll just create confusion,” she said.

According to Education Week, six states have policies related to cellphone use in schools. Some ban the devices outright; others require school districts to adopt their own policies.

In Oregon, a small group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers is working on a bill to address cellphones in schools for the next legislative session.

Last month, several legislators, along with Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, spoke at a virtual town hall meeting on the topic. State Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Beaverton, who is also a pediatrician, shared her firsthand experience seeing the effect of smartphones and social media on children.

“I often have patients burst out in tears when we talk about taking away their phone,” Reynolds said. “What this has said to me over and over again is that they do have a certain addiction, whether it’s the dopamine pulse or the counting the ‘likes.’”

Rosenblum, who is president of the National Association of Attorneys General, said protecting youth in America is one of her presidential initiatives this year.

“One of the biggest challenges our youth face are the negative impacts related to the use of smartphones,” Rosenblum said.

Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, is also part of the group working on a potential policy. She and a few others shared information about cellphones in schools with the house interim committee on education in May.

“We’re not saying technology is all bad or has no place — it’s the right place at the right time,” Levy said.

“That’s really our goal in crafting this policy — to make sure that we’re using this tool as a benefit and not in a way that harms our children.”

In any legislation, Kotek said she’ll be looking to make sure a potential policy addresses student social and emotional well-being, as well as parents concerned about reaching their children in an emergency.

At last month’s town hall, Rep. Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point, who also serves as a local school board member, said she hopes any statewide policy allows control from districts.

“We set what we expect to happen and they get to just decide how they’re going to do it,” McIntire explained.

She wants to see school districts take the lead. But she said they might be waiting for a push from the state to tell them what to do.

“Honestly, I think a lot of our school districts are probably just waiting for the state to make some sort of policy so then they can do it and not look like the bad guys because this is not a fun conversation to have.”