Vernon Schools Chief Advocating 'Good' Phone Use Amid New State Legislation

VERNON, CT — Cellphones are not so evil if used properly, Vernon's top educator said Wednesday in response to Gov. Ned Lamont applauding the Connecticut House of Representatives for approving legislation a day earlier that requires all school districts statewide to adopt a policy on the use of smartphones by students in K-12 public schools as part of an effort to "promote distraction-free learning in the digital age."

The legislation, which is included in section five of House Bill 7009, as amended, directs local and regional boards of education to use the policy guidance document crafted by the Connecticut State Department of Education in the development of their local smartphone policies. Districts will be required to adopt a policy in time for the start of the 2026-2027 school year and continue having an approved policy each school year thereafter.

"Young people learn best when they are actively listening to classroom instruction and interacting with their teachers and peers, not swiping, clicking, and scrolling," Lamont said. "In this day and age when technology is causing addictions and distracting people from developing social skills in interpersonal communication, school districts should have policies that promote a healthy balance on the use of personal devices. The state has developed guidance that provides a clear framework, and this legislation requires each school district to review that document and adopt their own local policies on this issue. I applaud the bipartisan members of the Connecticut House of Representatives for approving this legislation, especially the leadership of Education Committee co-chair Representative Jennifer Leeper, and I urge the Senate to pass it in concurrence with the House so that I can sign it into law."

The legislation will next be transmitted to the Senate for its consideration. That chamber must approve the bill by the end of the 2025 Regular Session, which concludes on June 4.

Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary said he was happy with Vernon's current policy, which promotes responsible academic use. Phones in high school "can be used as a tool for learning," he said.

Macary said that in most cases, the use of phones in elementary schools is "inappropriate," and use in the middle school is usually reserved to communicate for after-school activities.

But phone could be a good thing at the high school level, once students understand that some platforms waste academic time.

"And we certainly know that phones in school are not to be used for cyber-bullying," Macary said.

But for the right purposes, phones can be the right tool, in addition to school-issued laptops, he said.

"Remember 40 years ago when calculators came out? They weren't liked in the classrooms but things evolved," he said. "The same with phones. They can be a used as a quick way to look things up. and now you even need them for the SAT."

Macary said that, during a recent academic visit to Dubai, he experienced students using phones to quickly translate different languages.

"With global learning and things like artificial intelligence, (phones) can be the way of the future in the classrooms," he said.