I read with interest the opinion piece: Want Children To Learn? Ban Smartphones from the Chicago Tribune that appeared in the Sunday, November 30, 2025 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In the spring of 2025, Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritkzer, attempted to rally support for a bill that would have banned cellphones from classrooms. The bill failed, but Governor Pritkzer intends to try again. I admire his tenacity.
In my thirty one years of working in the public schools of Virginia, I once worked with a principal who reminded his faculty and staff frequently that “children take their signals from adults.”
I wonder how many Illinois legislators during the sessions for the proposed banning of cellphones were actually using their cellphones for communication not related to the bill?
Ask yourself, how many times have you been in public meetings where the adults in attendance were asked politely to silence their cellphones? Despite this gentle reminder, a cellphone usually rings.
Crafting a ban on cellphones for students must also have a standard for school personnel too.
A phone free learning environment policy is now in place in the school system where I once worked. The core of this policy is that cellphones must be stored and silenced during class time. That approach seems reasonable. Time will tell if the policy is having an impact.
And of course, it is easy to blame cellphones when students struggle to find success on state tests that measure math and reading skills. As your piece points out there are “other factors” that have possibly contributed to these test score declines.
Personally, I don’t think we work hard enough at understanding those “other factors” that impact learning.
How much of the decline in test scores comes from our inability to break vicious generational cycles related to substandard housing, inadequate mental and physical health care, inconsistent nutrition, trauma related to unstable families, and deteriorating school buildings with low student and faculty morale.
I wish Governor Pritkzer the best of luck in his pursuit of a cellphone ban.
If the bill fails for a second year, I hope the Governor will redirect his energy toward “other factors” that impact student performance.
Those “other factors” have been around before cellphones.
We are overdue to address their impact too.
Note from the author: This rejected letter was sent to the Chicago Tribune in response to an Op-Ed piece from the Chicago Tribune that appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on November 30, 2025. Bill Pike, Richmond, Virginia
might be baloney 