2025 Regular Session - Day 25 - HB 208, Rep. Josh Bray

house Bill 208 is a bill that is designed to um force local school districts to take up the issues of cell phones during the school day Um it says that um they shall have a policy to prohibit their use And with that Mr Speaker I would like for the clerk to report House floor amendment one Clerk please report House floor amendment one to House Bill 208 Gentle from Rock Castle Mr Mr Speaker House floor amendment one clarifies that the prohibition shall be during the instructional day It also changes the word forbid to prohibit That was a request from KDE And with that Mr Speaker I move for adoption of House floor amendment one Motion is for the adoption of House floor amendment one Is there any discussion of floor amendment Seeing none those in favor signify by voting I Those opposed nay House floor amendment one is adopted gentle from Rockle Thank you Mr Speaker There's been a lot of research done on cell phones uh with kids and the damage it causes to their mental health to their ability to learn when they're near Um there have been studies done that show that in school districts that have implemented policies to prohibit their usage during instructional time test scores have jumped by 6% pretty immediately And that's most particularly amongst the lowest achieving students who often use um the technology as as a way to escape difficult issues There's also been a lot of data and a lot of books written about how social media has impacted uh the the suicide rates the bullying rates of kids during the school day Um and and so House Bill 208 is designed to to hopefully address both of those issues Uh Mr Speaker I move passage of House Bill 208 as amended by House floor amendment one