As Alabama students returned to class, a new law limiting cell phone access in schools is sparking debate. The FOCUS Act, signed by Governor Kay Ivey earlier this year, mandates public schools to restrict cell phone use during the school day. The law, which stands for Freeing Our Classrooms of Unnecessary Screens for Safety, aims to minimize distractions and enhance learning.
Dr. Eric Mackey, Alabama State Superintendent, emphasized the importance of the law. “I keep saying to people, it’s not about the phone capacity, it’s about they are supercomputers in a child’s pocket. It’s not just phone, they are internet, they are texting, video. We don’t need that going on during the school day. We need students to focus on what’s happening in school. Students need to be focused on learning,” said Mackey.
While the law is clear, Mackey noted that enforcement is left to individual districts. “We left it up to each district to decide how they want to make sure the phone is stored. We’ve just been very clear the law has to be implemented, the law says the phone has to be turned off and stored off the student’s person. We are letting each district deal with that,” he said…