VOA教育报道2024--US Educators Increasingly Urge Total Phone Bans in Schools

US Educators Increasingly Urge Total Phone Bans in Schools

　　American educators and lawmakers are calling for complete bans on smartphone use by students in schools.

　　Most U.S. schools already have rules restricting phone use in class. But administrators¹ and teachers say the measures are difficult to enforce.

　　Educators across the United States say students are using their phones to do many things that can distract their attention during class. These include sending messages, gaming, listening to music, watching videos, checking social media and shopping.

　　Studies in recent years have confirmed high smartphone usage by young people in America. But an increasing number of educators and experts are now beginning to agree that total bans are necessary to solve the problem.

　　Leaders and lawmakers in a growing number of states have also called for complete phone bans or suggested new ways to limit their use in class.

　　James Granger is a science teacher at a Los Angeles, California high school. He recently told The Associated Press (AP), "Students used to have an understanding that you aren't supposed to be on your phone in class. Those days are gone."

　　Granger requires students attending his class to place their phones in a special container. "The only solution that works is to physically² remove the cellphone from the student," Granger said.

　　The latest state intervention³ on phones in schools came last month in Utah. Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, urged all school districts and the Board of Education to remove cellphones from classrooms. He explained that studies had repeatedly shown students do better in school when their phones are not available.

　　The studies, Cox noted⁴, found that learning improves, distractions⁵ are decreased, and students are more likely to talk to each other if their phones are taken away.

　　"We just need a space for six or seven hours a day where kids are not tethered to these devices," Cox told reporters. He said his urging, which does not have the force of law, is part of a larger legislative⁶ push to protect children from social media harms.

　　Patrick Truman is a high school teacher in Maryland who bans student phone use during class. "Cellphone use is out of control," he told the AP. "By that, I mean that I cannot control it, even in my own classroom."

　　Truman bought a container that can hold 36 phones. But he says that still, every day, students find ways to hide their phones so they can still use them.

　　Last year, Florida became the first state to strongly restrict phones in schools. A law took effect in July that requires all public schools in the state to ban student cellphone use and block social media services during class. Some school districts went a step further and banned phones for the whole school day.

　　Oklahoma, Vermont and Kansas also recently introduced what is becoming known as "phone-free schools" legislation.

　　Two U.S. senators – Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat⁷ – introduced federal legislation in December. The legislation would require a government study on how phone use by students affects their mental health and school progress.

　　The National Center for Education Statistics reports that nationally, 77 percent of U.S. schools say they currently ban phones for non-school use. Education experts, however, say that number is misleading. That is because it does not mean students are actually following the rules or that all the schools are enforcing them.

　　Many educators and experts say that, for a school phone ban to work, school administrators must be the ones to enforce it.

　　Some students say such policies take away their autonomy and cut off their main method of communication with family and friends. Opposition⁸ has also come from parents who fear they could be cut off from their children if there is a school emergency.

　　Kim Whitman is a leader of the Phone-Free Schools Movement, a group that advises schools. She told the AP she urges educators to make exceptions for students with special educational and medical needs.

　　Words in This Story

　　distract – v. to make someone stop giving their attention to something

　　tether – v. to tie something to an object so that it cannot be removed

　　autonomy – n. the right to be independent of have the right to self-govern

1 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

2 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

3 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。