Sharon Schools Get Funding For Phone-Free Classrooms

SHARON, MA – Sharon was among 17 school districts in the state to get funding to support phone-free learning environments.

Sharon Public Schools was granted up to $50,000 from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell's office's Phone Free School Support Grant. The grant was created to help public schools, charter schools, and educational collaboratives establish distraction-free learning environments

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"Young people are facing a mental health crisis driven in large part by the constant use of their cellphones and social media," said AG Campbell in a Tuesday announcement. "During the school day, kids deserve to be able to set those distractions aside and focus on learning and building relationships with their peers."

School districts can use the funding for expenses associated with the implementation and evaluation of a bell-to-bell phone-free policy, according to the AG's office. That includes phone storage and technology, staff training, community engagement, program evaluation and accessibility.

The awards vary based on student enrollment, with some adding up to $50,000.

This comes as school leaders and teachers across Massachusetts have reported that cell phones and social media drive classroom distractions, shortened attention spans, increased anxiety, negative peer interactions, and more frequent cyberbullying, harassment, and hate incidents, according to the AG's office.

At the same time, the AG's office says that schools that implemented new policies are seeing increased student focus, improved peer relations and less cyberbullying.

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