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By Dana Difilippo, New Jersey Monitor
Gov. Phil Murphy will include $3 million in his annual budget proposal for school districts to buy pouches where students can stash their cellphones, part of a statewide effort to cut classroom distractions by banning cellphones in schools.
Murphy stopped by Woodbury Junior-Senior High School, which adopted a cellphone ban last fall, for a tour Wednesday morning and a roundtable discussion with students who said they learn better without their cellphones constantly in hand.
“We’re going to put money on the line to make this happen faster in other districts,” Murphy said.
The funding comes as legislation advances in Trenton that would require school districts to adopt policies restricting the use of cellphones, smart watches, and social media during the school day, on school buses, and during some school-sanctioned events. The bill would also task the state Department of Education with developing guidance for districts on the issue. It would allow students to use phones in emergencies, or if they’re deemed critical to a student’s health and well-being.
The Senate passed the bill last month; it’s sponsored in that chamber by Sens. Paul Moriarty (D-Camden) and Kristin Corrado (R-Passiac). In the Assembly, the bill awaits a hearing before that body’s education committee.
Assembly members Rosy Bagolie (D-Essex) and Cody Miller (D-Gloucester), who sponsored the bill, joined the tour in Woodbury.
“I’m the type of person that always has my phone on me, so I want to give you kudos for adjusting to this,” Miller told Woodbury students who gathered for Murphy’s funding announcement. “We just want to see you all succeed. And we’re seeing right now that you’re succeeding because of the fact that you don’t have these in the classroom.”
Murphy said he got in the habit of leaving his own cellphone behind when he worked as the U.S. ambassador to Germany during the Obama administration and had to go into sensitive meetings where phones weren’t permitted.
“I’m one of the rare birds that doesn’t take his cellphone into every meeting that I’m a part of,” he said.
Woodbury joins several other school districts around the state, including Cherry Hill, and Ramsey, in requiring students to stash their cellphones in lockers, bins, or pouches from first bell to last bell every day. Other districts have deployed campaigns like “Away for the Day” and “Wait Until 8th” that discourage cellphone use by students, especially in the younger grades.
Supporters say cellphones and social media — besides hurting students’ academics — can harm their mental health, disrupt their sleep, facilitate cyberbullying, and isolate them by reducing peer interactions.
The governor will announce his budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year Tuesday afternoon at the Statehouse in Trenton, where it will be tweaked after a series of budget hearings in coming months. Lawmakers have June 30 to pass it.
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