Governor Glenn Youngkin spent Friday in Hopewell where he ceremonially signed a bill authored by state Democrats that will ban cellphones in the state’s public schools.
Governor Glenn Youngkin started pushing cellphone-free schools years ago, but only after an effort was approved by Democrats in the legislature earlier this year did it become a reality.
“We know that a cell phone free classroom is good for instruction, it's good for classroom dynamics and it's good for the overall school day and school environment,” Henrico Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, one of the authors of the bill signed by Youngkin Friday, told Radio IQ.
He’s also a high school civics teacher so he’s seen first-hand the damage cell phones are causing.
Fairfax Senator Stella Pekarsky was another author of the effort. She said some localities in her district had already implemented the bell-to-bell ban and it was producing results.
“They have been able to really focus on their lessons, on the conversations in the classroom, on relationships with other students," Pekarsky said.
The governor, meanwhile, said the new state law was a chance for students to free themselves from the grasp of cell phones, including the students of Carter G. Woodson Middle School who sat in attendance for his signing.
“We are indeed embracing freedom. We are indeed embracing your futures," Youngkin said. "And they are spectacular.”
The school cellphone ban technically goes into effect July 1st; students can expect to see the impacts in the fall of 2025.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
