Students across Louisiana can expect some changes to the code of conduct starting this Fall.
According to Act 313, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, students will not be able to have their electronic devices like cell phones and Smartwatches visible during the instructional period.
This means, lawmakers are requiring students to keep these items stored away and turned off, until class(es) are dismissed.
Jennings native Michelle Lewis has a 15-year-old son who attends Jennings High School. She told KATC she's looking forward to Act 313 being enforced, citing students are often consumed by their phones and social media.
"They're always doing different stuff on their phones instead of paying attention [to their teachers]," Lewis said. "[My son uses] YouTube and Snapchat."
I reached out to John Hall, Superintendent of the Jeff Davis Parish School Board.
Hall said this new legislation prioritizes the well-being of both students and educators.
"Teachers wanted instructional time that was free of the dings, the chimes, the rings," Hall said. "Some of the concerns that the teachers had was that the students would listen to music in class or they would walk into their class turning their phone off and then, of course, the phones were going off when the students thought that their phones were turned off already."
It's distractions like these, that prompt great-grandfather and JHS alum Walter Adams to uphold Act 313 also.
Walters said when he was in high school, there weren't any cell phones. That's why he believes students can go a short time without them.
"We only had the rotary phone when I was in high school," Adams said. "So, when we had to call home, we had to go to the rotary phone and use that in the office. Now, they can have access, they can go in the bathroom...they’re texting and sending messages to somebody and going online."
You can access Act 313 by clicking the link below:
Act 313
