NEW: Will RI Ban Text Messaging in Schools?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Recent surveys indicate more than 40 percent of students text during class time. That is why Rhode Island State Representative Peter Petrarca introduced a bill that calls on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to institute a statewide policy limiting texting during school hours. The policy would likely include a clause allowing texting in the event of an emergency.
“If students are texting during class time, whether it’s to friends or even their parents, they are not paying attention to what is happening in their classrooms,” said Rep. Petrarca (D-Dist. 44, Lincoln, Johnston, Smithfield). “And while it might seem unobtrusive, it can be distracting – not only for the student doing it, but for others in the class and even the teacher.”.
The House Committee on Health, Education, and Welfare will review the Petrarca bill on January 25. Four other representatives from around Rhode Island are currently co-sponsors of the proposed bill.
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The proposed bill is not the first of its kind in the Ocean State. Senator John Tassoni Jr. has introduced identical legislation. That bill is now before the Senate Committee on Education.
