School committee bans cell phones in school for students through 8th grade
By James Corrigan
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LEWISTON, Maine (WMTW) — The Lewiston School Committee voted unanimously on Monday to ban cell phones in school for students through 8th grade and to limit phones to outside of classrooms for high school students.
Phones for pre-K to 8th grade students will have to be stored during the school day, with the exception of students where it is determined to be “essential for the student’s health, safety, or for educational purposes.”
Discipline will vary from warnings to confiscation to parent conferences to suspensions or expulsions for more serious offenses.
Superintendent Jake Langlais says that eliminating cell phones from the learning environment removes a stressor for students, such as in scenarios where they are waiting for a text message.
“They live a lot of anxiety they might not otherwise have to live because they’re expecting that quick return, and whether you get it or don’t it creates this new sense of angst,” Langlais said. “And when you’re trying to focus on things like math, that can get really hard.”
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