CONCORD, NH – Today, the bell-to-bell cellphone prohibition in public schools passed the House and Senate as part of the state budget trailer bill. This policy now moves forward to Governor Ayotte for her action on HB 2.
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, provided the following statement after the votes:
“Students are at school for a limited amount of time during the day; as educators, we want to ensure they receive the maximum benefit during that time, both academically and socially. Unfortunately, as access to personal devices has grown more common, schools have seen an increase in student misbehavior, shorter attention spans, and higher levels of distractions.
While we are disappointed that the stand-alone bill did not move forward, and we have concerns about the overall state budget proposal, we maintain that this bell-to-bell prohibition is a critical component for our collective response to the increasingly negative impact cellphones have on student learning and mental health.
We applaud the coalition of bipartisan lawmakers who support this clear and consistent bell-to-bell prohibition on the use of cellphones during school. This is a policy supported by educators and parents because it is an effective way to ensure students can make the most of their time at school without teachers acting as the cell-phone police.”
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About NEA-New Hampshire
NEA-New Hampshire is the largest union of public employees in the state. Founded in 1854, the New Hampshire State Teachers Association became one of the "founding ten" state education associations that formed the National Education Association in 1857. Known today as NEA-NH, and comprised of more than 17,000 members, our mission to advocate for the children of New Hampshire and public-school employees, and to promote lifelong learning, remains true after more than 165 years. Our members are public school employees in all stages of their careers, including classroom teachers and other certified professionals, staff and instructors at public higher education institutions, students preparing for a teaching career, education support personnel and those retired from the profession.
