Education committee hears testimony on social media, cell phone overuse Nov. 8, 2024 Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, speaks about student cell phone use during Friday’s Interim Joint Committee on Education meeting. A high-resolution photo can be found here. FRANKFORT — During Friday’s Interim Joint Committee on Education meeting, legislators heard testimony about the effects of social media and cell phone use on students. A researcher and author, a superintendent from Ohio and two administrators from Bourbon County all shared findings and stories of students they said are excessively using technology. Zach Rausch testified virtually. He is associate research scientist at New York University’s Stern School of Business and chief researcher for a book on how technology trends are impacting mental health. “Childhood…went through a rapid transformation between 2010 and 2015 where kids moved from what we called a play-based childhood embodied physically in the real world in to a phone-based childhood where we are on screens 10 hours a day, being online almost of all of the time,” he said. Rausch said children sometimes spend an “enormous” amount of time using cell phones and social media, and some of them experience a deterioration in their mental health. He testified about depression, loneliness, sextortion and a decrease in test scores. He said there is often overprotection in the real world, but under protection online. Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, said a bill was filed during the last legislative session to address some of the problems associated with overuse of technology, and he expects it will continue to be addressed by legislators. He asked presenters about superintendents who think the overuse is a lost battle. Larry Joe Begley, superintendent of Bourbon County Schools, said he would encourage his colleagues to have more conversation and not assume that there will be pushback. However, he said it if comes, they should persevere with tackling problems sometimes associated with technology. “There’s always pushback in everything that we do. And I would just encourage them to be courageous and at least take a try before you say no,” he said. “And can speak to myself on that. I certainly come to you and self-profess that until other people get behind you and give you a little nudge, it does seem scary.” David Lawrence, superintendent of Dayton Public Schools in Ohio, said he was backed up by seven board members who were all supportive of the district’s technology policies. Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, said he thinks Fern Creek High School in Louisville was the first cell phone-free school in Kentucky. “As we’ve seen in the presentation here, the results from Fern Creek are pretty clear in the early returns here that performance is up, behavior is better, the kids and teachers appreciate it; they like it,” he said. “As far as I’m aware, there is absolutely nothing in KRS today that is preventing school systems across our state from implementing the policy necessary to help our children.” Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, said the presentation was “very eye-opening and disturbing, especially how it’s disproportionately affecting the females.” She said she has spoken with a principal within her district, and the district used bags for storing cell phones at a high school. “There were some definite benefits, but she ended up pulling them out. Her approach was we want to teach our high schoolers to be able to regulate this themselves. They’re about to go out in the real world, and it’s not going away,” Callaway said. She said the students aren’t allowed to use cell phones in the hallways, and teachers are able to restrict them in the classrooms as necessary. “But what they’ve spent the money on because those bags are so expensive, is more interactive, physically challenging activities. A VR, they’ve got a VR room now – anything they can do to get the students up and moving, that’s what they’re investing in,” she said. Rep. Kevin Jackson, R-Bowling Green, said legislators have taken steps recently to attract and retain teachers, and curbing technology overuse would continue this effort. “I heard all those horror stories all the time when I served on a school board. You know, we talk about we want test scores to go up, and I think this evidence that they have shown us, test scores and social scores go down. Mental health issues and suicide goes up,” he said. Committee Co-Chair Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, called the problems “very important,” and said he expects several bills to be filed to address it. The Kentucky General Assembly can’t act on legislation until the 2025 Regular Session begins Jan. 7. The next IJC on Education Committee meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. The post Education committee hears testimony on social media, cell phone overuse appeared first on The Lexington Times.