BISMARCK — Gov. Kelly Armstrong held a press conference in Bismarck on Wednesday, to voice his full throated support for two bills seeking to prohibit public school students from using their cell phones during the school day.

The bills, House Bill 1160 and Senate Bill 2354, would require all public schools to implement a policy to eliminate personal communication devices during classes.

The bills would require that all devices be turned off, securely locked away and inaccessible to students from the start of the school day until dismissal at the end of the day. Under the proposal, the use of tablets and other school-issued devices for learning would still be allowed, and would also allow exceptions for students with medical needs or IEP requirements.

“We can’t wait two years. We need to get cell phones out of schools. I think it’s the single most impactful thing we can do this legislative session,” Armstrong said. “This is absolutely something that we can do to help teachers, to help school systems, to help students. And the problem is, parents want teachers to do it. Teachers want principals to do it. Principals want school boards to do it. School boards want the Legislature to do it. We figure if we’re going to ask everyone to do that, we should throw the full weight of the Governor’s office with the leadership of Lt. Gov. (Michelle) Strinden into this process.”

Armstrong said students are anxious, have more mental health issues and are addicted to their phones. He said his time in Congress involved dealing with Big Tech companies, and that kids are spending far too much time on phones during the school day.

“We’re going to come get them. The reason we’re going to come get them is because it’s going to be better for kids and better for our schools,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong acknowledged that educators and school districts already have a tough job, but the bell to bell ban will help improve student outcomes and their mental health. Armstrong said the cost of the legislation was minimal and wasn’t a resource allocation issue, and banning cell phones from classrooms was necessary and supported by the data.

“We have an opportunity to create a learning environment that is better for our students and we should take it and jump at the chance,” Armstrong concluded.

Sen. Michelle Axtman, one of the sponsors of Senate Bill 2354, said she was thankful to have the support of the governor, and shared data which she said drove the need for the original bill. Axtman said the average American teen spends eight hours a day on screens, but only three hours or more on social media increases their risk for mental health problems. Axtman said young people are receiving between 237 and 5,000 notifications a day.

“If we think about that, if they are looking at their phones for two to 10 seconds per notification, how are we expecting them to learn in our schools? Frankly, we shouldn’t be shocked that we’re seeing math and reading and science scores dropping across the United States since 2012,” Axtman said. “I’m a mom of two young girls, and it frankly saddens me that we’ve taken nearly a decade to wrap our heads around the cost of social media and phones in classrooms, and that lapse in time has significantly hurt a whole generation of our youth.”

Axtman said the statewide requirement eliminates confusion from teachers and districts about how they will enforce it in their classrooms. The bills would give districts the flexibility to decide how to store the devices, such as in secure lockable pouches or phone lockers, with proposed funding of $1.5 million to cover the equipment expenses.

“We’ve seen how inconsistent phone policies from school to school and classroom to classroom can create confusion and frustration for students, parents and teachers alike,” said Strinden, who testified in support of the proposal to the House and Senate education committees before this morning’s press conference. “Establishing a baseline with a bell-to-bell phone-free policy will ensure students in every public school have the same opportunity to learn without the distraction of cell phones and social media while in school. This legislation offers a common starting point, not a one-size-fits-all solution.”

According to a release from the Governor’s office, 16 states have enacted some level of phone-free school policies, and more than two dozen states have policies under consideration, according to anxiousgeneration.com. Last month, Arkansas passed a “Bell to Bell, No Cell Act” requiring public schools to enact policies banning the use of cell phones during the school day.