Smart Devices

The redesigned platform — believed to be the first of its kind at launch — enhances how residents, businesses and governments can access and view statewide land ownership data. Mobile performance and print functions are also improved.

Amid a growing body of research and lawsuits related to the subject, social media addiction was the focus of a presentation at the National School Boards Association conference this week, featuring a student with firsthand experience.

Officials at Quincy School District in Washington say phones have changed the dynamics of bullying by extending it beyond school hours, and most bullying incidents start on social media.

Data and anecdotes alike have shown excessive use of smartphones and social media are negatively impacting students' social-emotional skills. Many school districts are implementing programs to counter this.

Clinical psychologist Lisa Strohman connects technology overuse with rampant mental health problems in young people, and she says they will need help from parents, teachers and administrators to deal with this.

Some students feel unfairly restricted by Fresno Unified School District's use of an app to regulate their trips outside classrooms during instructional periods. They are allowed two seven-minute bathroom breaks per day.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, accuses Apple of stifling competition and leveraging its clout and ownership of the popular App Store to increase prices for customers.

A handful of schools in the Norwalk area will join three other regional schools currently enrolled in the Verizon Innovative Learning program, which will provide free Chromebooks and data plans to students and staff.

As many schools have already banned cellphone use during class, governors and legislators in at least half a dozen states are pushing their schools to follow suit — through persuasion or by law.

At a recent roundtable discussion with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, school administrators said students appear to be more engaged, more social and mentally healthier since being separated from their smartphones during the day.

Carroll County teachers have shared frustrations about cellphones being a disruption to instruction as well as a mode of bullying, and trying to enforce the district's current limited-use policy uses up class time.

Since December, students at Illing Middle School have had to place their phones into magnetically locked pouches during the day. Feedback from teachers and parents has been positive, and students got used to it.

Staff at Gilbert Public Schools are drafting a policy to restrict student use of cell phones at school, arguing the devices are a distraction both in class and during a crisis, and harmful to student mental health.

At Angeline Academy of Innovation in Land O’ Lakes, Fla., three students found the superintendent’s latest proposal so distasteful they made it the subject of their entrepreneurship class project.

Under Senate Bill 185, school districts would have to adopt policies prohibiting a student from using a cell phone or other wireless communication device during instructional time.

During a recent class discussion in River Ridge High School’s New Teacher Academy, however, students suggested that the adult decision-makers have some misplaced priorities.

Based on more than 100 responses to Gov. Ned Lamont's recommendation that schools limit student use of cellphones, Connecticut parents are broadly in agreement that the devices should be put away during class.

A bill moving through Congress proposes that districts receiving funds through the E-Rate program should not allow social media access, but it may be more practical for districts to address the problem individually.