Schools must update cell phone policies in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah school districts and charter schools must now update their policies on cell phone use, and train students and staff about it.

The Utah Board of Education passed a new rule about it at their meeting on Friday.

Teachers say kids are distracted by their parents texting them, or watching movies, or in the worst cases, looking at pornography. But the cell phone rules can vary even classroom to classroom in the same school.

“In so many cases, neither parents nor kids know what the policy is. And in many cases, school-level people aren’t aware of what those policies are,” said Utah representative Susan Pulsipher to the House Education Committee last week.

She was speaking about a bill that would require better policies on cell phones.

“We’ve talked a lot about safety in schools lately. We know it’s easier to prevent things from happening, than to fix the consequences after things happen,” she said.

The new Board rule does allow some flexibility for using phones for educational purposes in class while still setting restrictions.

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