State Rep. Brad Paquette (R-Niles) issued the following statement in response to Governor Whitmer proposing to ban cell phone usage in classrooms during her State of the State address last Wednesday:

“As a former public-school teacher, I have a wealth of first-hand experience managing a classroom and seeing what does and doesn’t work when it comes to maintaining kids’ attention. My school developed an effective disciplinary system that successfully incorporated both limits to and reasonable allowances of cell phone usage. A blanket ban on cell phone usage in the classroom sounds nice but does not account for the nuances of this problem.

“The classroom has a role in helping children and young adults learn how to use their cell phone correctly both in and out of class. Completely prohibiting cell phone usage, which my school district would later do, just caused students to end up in detention more often and negatively impacted the school culture.

“It seems completely backwards to me to legislate this issue at a statewide level and institute a blanket policy that does account for the varying needs in different communities, schools, and students. Cell phones in class can definitely detract from learning, but this is an issue that should be addressed at a local level. The school districts themselves are much more capable of crafting policies that limit inappropriate cell phone usage but also benefit students and allow them to have their phones for emergencies. This localized approach will better achieve desired results while still maintaining parents’ peace of mind that their children can contact them in emergency situations.”