Pritzker pushes cell phone ban in schools during visit to OPRF 

Governor JB Pritzker appeared at Oak Park and River Forest High School Friday morning to advocate for his proposal to ban cell phone use in school during class time. He appeared with three members of the Illinois General Assembly including State Rep. Camille Lilly, a 1979 graduate of OPRF, and OPRF officials in the school’s west gym before an audience of about 50 people including about 25 student leaders. 

“Strong schools are the foundation to our success as a state. This year, I am proposing legislation that requires school districts to adopt a cell phone policy that keeps students focused on the work in class,” Pritzker said. “We owe it to our kids to cultivate the healthiest, most productive learning environment possible — this proposal will help us do just that.” 

Pritzker mentioned the ill effects on young people of excessive reliance on screens and social media. 

“There’s real harm being done by social media,” Pritzker said. 

The proposed legislation would require all school districts and charter schools in Illinois to adopt a policy limiting the use of wireless communication devices on school grounds during the day — from “bell to bell” according to a press release put out by the governor’s office. 

The proposed legislation contains four exceptions to the proposed prohibition of cell phone use during class time. They are when a medical professional determines that the possession or use of a wireless communication device is necessary for the management of a student’s health care, when it is necessary to fulfill an Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan, when necessary for students who are English learners to access learning materials, participate in class, or otherwise facilitate communication and when a student is a caregiver and is routinely responsible for the care and wellbeing of a family member. 

Pritzker said 25 other states have already enacted bans on using cell phones in schools. 

Pritzker came to OPRF in part because OPRF has a general practice in which students are supposed to put their cell phones in a pouch, called a cell phone home, which is typically hung on a classroom door for the duration of a class period. Martin Torres, Pritzker’s deputy governor for education, is the father of a current OPRF student and was aware of OPRF’s cell phone policy and helped arrange the visit. 

The use of the cell phone home at OPRF came out of a faculty committee that was formed at OPRF a few years ago. Former OPRF history teacher Dan Wolman was a driving force on that committee. 

OPRF Superintendent Greg Johnson, Principal Lynda Parker and English teacher Raquel Mcgee as well as Lilly and the other two members of the legislature also spoke at the event. 

Parker said OPRF’s cell phone policy is intended to prevent students from being distracted by their phones in class and also to preserve face to face interaction among students. 

“Our teacher committee believed we owed it to students to do all that we could to foster and preserve that human element in the classroom — a return to a daily experience marked by authentic person-to-person exchanges,” Parker said. “And recognition that, every time a student reaches for or glances at the phone, that human element suffers.” 

Mcgee said she has noticed a clear improvement in student engagement in class since OPRF began using the cell phone homes. 

OPRF junior Isabella Crowe said she likes the cell phone homes but noted that some teachers are stricter about requiring that students give up their phones in class than others. 

“I find it’s very helpful if teachers are enforcing it because it becomes second nature to just put it in the phone home regardless of the day or if the teacher is lighter on it,” Crowe said after the event. “Some teachers are less prone to enforcing the rule than others which I think then becomes the problem of cell phones in class but when enforced and when the teacher has made it very clear that that is an expectation as part of the classroom it works perfectly.” 

Crowe said that most teachers enforce the rule but some are less strict about it. 

Crowe said she doesn’t find it hard to be without her phone during class time, especially now as a junior when she is taking more difficult classes. 

“You don’t find it hard to be without (your phone); it’s so busy in the classroom,” Crowe said. “Often the only times we’re prompted to use our phone is for schoolwork, whether using our calculator or Google Classroom on our phone to upload work but it’s not hard to be without it. We have it in passing periods and lunchtime.” 

Crowe said that even during lunch she and her friends try to focus on face to face interaction instead of staring at their phones. 

“Even at lunch my friends always hold each other accountable and we try not to be on our phone around each other,” Crowe said. 

Pritzker initially proposed a cell phone ban in schools last year but the General Assembly didn’t vote on the measure and decided to hold off and refine the bill to address concerns that some voiced. Some parents like being able to contact their children in school at any time by text message and some worried that students need their phones in case of an emergency. 

State Rep Michelle Mussman, (D-56^th District) the chairwoman of the House Education Policy Committee, said research indicates that students are less safe in emergencies if they are on their phones instead of listening to instructions. 

Mussman also noted the irony that she was reading her remarks on her own cellphone.  

Pritzker was at OPRF for about an hour. The event was covered by numerous Chicago TV stations. 

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