by banning smartphones in the classroom!
No thanks to Assembly Democrats
Gee Wally, even Tony Evers signed it. Just today! A bill to ban smartphones during school hours. Something Madison’s public schools could not bring themselves to do. Something Democrats here in Dane County and statewide could not bring themselves to support.
Nineteen states already ban or restrict smartphones. Even Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called for classroom cellphone restrictions. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did it. (They’re both Democrats, BTW.) In Wisconsin, not a single Democrat voted for the legislation when it came before the State Assembly. All 53 votes in favor were Republicans; all but one of the 45 votes against were Democrats.
Since smartphones and social media became prevalent in 2010, the mental health of young people across the world has rapidly declined. … Suicide among girls has nearly tripled during that time. … Technology is not going away, but we must teach young people to use it responsibly. Part of that is putting it aside when there is work to do. — State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, sponsor of the bill
→ Take cell phones out of the classrooms, educators say
‘The ubiquitous appliance has been banned at Edgewood, a private Catholic high school here in Madison WI, which we got to think has fewer disciplinary issues than our public schools. We are told that kids are actually talking to teach other again at Edgewood.
In a Pew Research survey, 72% of high school teachers said that students being distracted by their cell phones is a “major problem in their classroom.”
Dane County’s Democrat(ic) state representatives voted against removing cell phones from the classroom — every single one of them: Francesca Hong, Renuka Meyadev, Shelia Stubbs, Lisa Subeck, Mike Bare, Alex Joers, Maureen McCarville, Randy Udell, Andrew Hysell, Jenna Jacobson. But Tony Evers, former head of the Department of Public Instruction, did sign it.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Names names because these legislators aren’t going to ballyhoo their No votes. They’d rather trash Republicans.
4 responses to “Republicans helping our kids learn”
It’s about time. I’ve been teach UW students since January if 2010 as an adjunct Professor and I-phones were prohibited from all my classes.
Distracted learning should be against the law.
Next thing you know those damn Rs are going to ban Little Debbie’s from SNAP.
Oh the humanity!
Now people of Madison will clamor for their kids to get IEPs to get around common sense.