North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein stopped by East Mecklenburg High School on Tuesday and held a roundtable discussion with teachers about the impact of cellphone-free classrooms. Before the discussion, Stein toured the school and stopped by East Meck’s auto shop to meet with students
This school year marked the first with public and charter schools banning the use of cellphones during class. Schools are also required to teach students about social media literacy.
During the discussion at East Meck, teachers said there have been better social interactions among students in the classroom and less conflict between students and teachers. For parents concerned about safety, Stein said students still have access to their phones in emergency situations.
"What the teachers said their solution has been is to not take this phone from the student at the beginning of the day, and the student can't touch it for 8 hours, but rather to have it at the front of the classroom so that if, God forbid, some terrible incident did happen on this campus, the student could get the phone and reassure their parents that, that they're OK" Stein said.
Stein also asked teachers what they need to make improvements in the classroom. Common themes included more staff, smaller class sizes and access to mental health services for students.
