Twelve months after announcing it would be a top priority for his final year in office, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation restricting the use of cell phones in New Jersey’s K-12 schools.
The bill, approved by the Senate and Assembly last month, requires the education commissioner to publish guidelines that will, at a minimum, bar students from the “non-academic use” of cell phones on school grounds during the school day. Murphy signed the bill in a Thursday morning ceremony at Ramsey High School in Bergen County.
“With today’s bill signing, we are ensuring New Jersey schools are a place for learning and engagement, not distracting screens that detract from academic performance. In schools across our state, from Ramsey to Woodbury, we have seen the positive impact of phone-free policies,” Murphy said in the announcement. “Teachers report that students are more focused, less anxious, and they are socializing and laughing with each other — not through a screen — but in hallways and classrooms. By getting rid of needless distractions, we are fundamentally changing our schools’ learning environments and encouraging our children to be more attentive and engaged during the school day.”
States are increasingly taking steps to restrict the use of cell phones in schools as research increasingly finds that the devices cause mental health issues and harm educational outcomes.
In his exit interview with the New Jersey Globe on Monday, Murphy said the effects of cell phones are “unspeakable.”
“I’ll tell you what, with my own kids in their 20s, and too many phones at the dinner table — we were just all on vacation together for 10 or 11 days, and the phones were on the table all the time — I wish the [school] cell-phone ban that I’ll sign this week were in effect when my kids were younger. I say that as a dad more than I do as governor,” he said. “It’s just, the damage is unspeakable.”
Murphy announced his intentions to push the bill during his State of the State address last year. The proposal was one of the few to garner bipartisan applause.
“Honestly, is it any surprise that the rise in smartphone usage has coincided with a growing youth mental health crisis?” Murphy said during the address. “Of course not. And I, for one, am not going to sit back as our kids suffer.”
The bill requires the guidelines to include policies for the use of cell phones and other devices during emergencies. The commissioner’s guidelines will also list options for cell phone storage, ranging from lockers to locked pouches.
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who assumes Murphy’s office in 12 days, said she approved of the legislation.
“I applaud the Governor for taking a big step to protect our kids by making schools a safe, phone-free place to learn. Our young people are facing a mental health crisis – but, we all know that when children put the screens down, their mental health and academic results improve,” she said in the release. “I look forward to implementing this important legislation and continuing to make progress on kids’ online safety and holding Big Tech accountable for the content they push toward our kids.”
