New Jersey could become the next state to ban cell phones in schools

New Jersey could become the next state in the coming weeks to ban students from using cell phones while they are in public school.

A bill unanimously passed the state Senate in January, but it stalled in the Assembly earlier this year after passing the education committee. Lawmakers have brought it back up for discussion during their current lame duck session that runs from the gubernatorial election held earlier this month until January. After that, state’s new governor, Mikie Sherrill, will be inaugurated and the next legislative session begins.

“I am very, very hopeful and optimistic that we will push to get something done prior to the start of the new governor that will come into office,” Democratic Assemblymember Cody Miller, one of the sponsors of the legislation, told Gothamist. He noted the bill has bipartisan support.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin also said he’s in favor of the bill. And outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy said last week during his monthly WNYC interview series, “Ask Gov. Murphy,” that a bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools was “among, if not the highest priority” for him as he finishes up his time as governor.

If the bill is signed into law, New Jersey would become the 21st state to completely ban student cell phone use during the instructional hours of the public school day. Another 17 states have partially limited students’ access to their phones. Like other states, New Jersey’s law would have exceptions for students with disabilities and those with individualized learning plans.

Many of New Jersey’s more than 600 school districts have already restricted students’ use of cell phones during school. For example, starting this year, junior and senior high school students in Woodbury are required to place their cell phones in locked pouches that they can hold onto during the school day.

While the legislation calls for the state Department of Education to set a statewide policy, the bill as it is written would allow for some local flexibility as to how to implement the cell phone restrictions in schools.

Safety concerns

Miller, who works in higher education at Rowan College of South Jersey in addition to serving in the Assembly, said he understands the safety concerns that some parents have about their kids not having access to their phones in the case of emergencies.

“ I get there's a safety concern from parents saying, ‘Well, what if I can't communicate with my kids?’ Well, most school districts have text alert notifications. You've got law enforcement that are in the schools. I don't think that there's any public safety concerns with this,” he said.

Miller is also a volunteer firefighter in Williamstown. He said that phone use in schools can sometimes be detrimental during an emergency.

“ The worst thing that happens when there's an incident — and even if it's something small — is kids having access to their phones. What happens is parents flood the schools and it becomes a public safety issue,  because emergency service vehicles, if you've got parents driving into the school and flooding the school, they can't respond to emergencies adequately,” he said.

Why now?

The lame duck session serves as an opportunity for lawmakers to pass legislation that wasn’t voted on during regular session time. The next five weeks are particularly significant for Gov. Phil Murphy, who leaves office in January.

“The Murphy administration's trying real hard to push this through during the lame duck because it's the last chance to do it,” said Dan Cassino, a politics professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and executive director of the FDU Poll.

Last January, during his final State of the State address Murphy called for legislators to act on phone ban — saying that he believed the law would not only improve learning, but help the mental health crisis many young people are facing.

“Honestly, is it any surprise that the rise in smartphone usage has coincided with a growing youth mental health crisis? Of course not. And I, for one, am not going to sit back as our kids suffer,” Murphy said.

The state budget he signed into law in July included $3 million in grants available to municipalities to invest in tools, such as purchasing the lockable pouches, to help them limit cell phone usage in schools.

Miller said the sponsors are working with the governor’s office on amendments before the bill is put up for a vote. Murphy’s office declined to comment on those discussions.