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Lawmakers hear broad testimony on proposed limits to student phone use; experts warn of harms to learning and safety
Summary
At a joint House Education and Health committee hearing, psychologists, school resource officers, teachers and school leaders presented evidence that personal smart devices distract students, correlate with poorer academic and mental-health outcomes, and can complicate emergency response; witnesses urged a statewide framework that preserves local flexibility and targeted exceptions.
At a joint informational hearing of the Pennsylvania House Education and Health committees, lawmakers heard two panels of educators, psychologists, law-enforcement officers and school leaders testify about proposals to limit students' use of personal smart devices during the school day.
Committee members and witnesses framed the issue as a balance between classroom focus, student safety and parental access. Chair Schweier opened the session noting that the Commonwealth's roughly 500 school districts are diverse and that the hearing was intended for conversation, not a reading of submitted testimony.
Psychologists and school leaders told the committees that research and local experience point to consistent harms from unrestricted device use in school. Dr. Mitch Prinstein of the American Psychological Association said device features and platform design are changing how young people engage with information and each other, and cited research linking device access with decreased attention and lower…
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