LINCOLN, NE - Tuesday, Governor Jim Pillen
testified before the Nebraska State
Legislature's Education Committee
on LB140 which proposes banning the use
of cell phones by students at school.
Senator Rita Sanders introduced the
bill at the request of the Governor.
LB140 requires the school boards of each
public school district to adopt a policy
establishing the rules and standards
for cell usage. The bill also
spells out certain exceptions like when
the cell phone is authorized by a
teacher for educational purposes,
in the case of an emergency, and for
monitoring and management of a
student's health care situation.
During his testimony, Gov. Pillen
referenced findings from Jonathan
Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation:
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood
is Causing an Epidemic of Mental
Illness. Haidt noted that young
people receive 192 alerts from top
social apps each day, equating to
11 notifications per waking hour, or
one notification every five minutes.
After the Governor addressed the committee,
Attorney General Mike Hilgers and Department
of Education Commissioner Dr. Brian Maher
also testified in support of the bill.
