A contingent of parents from western Pennsylvania traveled to Harrisburg to support legislation for phone-free schools on Monday.
The PA Unplugged group attended the State House Education Committee hearing on a bill to mandate phone-free schools in Pennsylvania. Legislators heard from a psychologist, a school counselor and the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers, which represents the police on school campuses.
Dr. Beth Sanborn, the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers and a former school resource officer herself, spoke about kids using smartphones in an emergency at school. One of the primary arguments against banning kids’ personal cell phones is that parents want to be able to reach their child if there’s an active shooter or emergency; however, Sanborn says that is not what their organization representing school resource officers says is best…