Whitmer to propose phone limitations in K-12 classrooms in State of the State

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is going to encourage Republicans and Democrats to unite on a bill to limit cell phone use in classrooms.

While no specific details were released, FOX 2 learned that the governor is going to call on bipartisan support of the legislation to move kids' attention away from social media and back to the classroom.

The backstory:

A year ago, a Republican lawmaker from Rochester Hills pushed a bill to restrict phone use by students in schools. He met a lot of headwinds, but it's now about to come to reality thanks to the Democratic governor.

Rep. Mark Tisdell introduced legislation last year to restrict phone use as lawmakers and educators are blaming kids short attention span on cell phones.

Wednesday night, Whitmer will deliver her seventh State of the State address and is expected to call for bipartisan support of limiting phones.

"I was trying to build a bipartisan group of legislators to pursue this, but during an election year last year that was difficult, so I just ended up consolidating it into one bill and passing it along. I’m very glad the governor has picked up the issue and sees it as important," Tisdell said.

Whitmer's office says it's about supporting school districts, limiting distractions, and making sure kids are focused.

Stream Whitmer's State of the State live at 7 p.m. on Wednesday here.

Madison School District Superintendent Patricia Perry says those short attention spans are created by phones and social media. 

"Here we’re trying to teach students how to solve quadratic equations but their attention is so short," Perry said. "I personally think the best answer – and I know this is probably not going to be received well – but we really need to stop having kids access social media during certain times of the day."

Tisdell and Perry agree that it's time for something to change. And they have data to back up them up.

According to a study published in 2023, just the mere presence of a cell phone shortens attention span.

Now they'll get support from Whitmer as she calls on the legislature to get the bill into law.