NEA state and local affiliates can play a key role in shaping legislation and policy, building and strengthening partnerships, and guiding and supporting educators. It’s important to begin by developing state-level policy and guidance on limiting student personal device use if guidance does not yet exist. On the local level, education associations have multiple opportunities to promote policies to protect students and enhance learning environments.
“Our message was unified and consistent when we promoted our affiliates’ resolution, driven by member feedback, on student personal device use in our district. We did not deviate; there could be no opportunity to poke holes in our work.”
Rainer Kulenkampff, educator, Montgomery County Education Association cellphone committee co-chair
Advocacy strategies and goals are designed to provoke thinking about how to move the work forward. NEA affiliates can use these sample goals to inform their own efforts.
State Legislative Initiatives
Sample Goal: Support new or strengthened legislation requiring restrictions on student personal devices from bell-to-bell, including limited but necessary exceptions.
NYSUT Calls for Bell-to-Bell Personal Device Restrictions in Schools
MCEA Organizes to Advocate for Limiting Student Device Use in Schools
Identifying and Working with Partners
To make meaningful changes, affiliates must identify and work with strong partners. Alliances, health- and tech-focused organizations, families, students, and legal experts can work together to protect consumers, especially children and adolescents, by advocating for local, state, and federal policies on personal devices, corporate accountability, and media literacy. By building relationships and collaborating with partners, affiliates can:
- Expand their union's influence on the issues and deepen their members’ expertise
- Access current data on child and adolescent risks and insight into policy efforts already underway
- Collaborate on the development of curated messaging and stories to support or oppose policy and increase support around advocacy efforts, making it hard to ignore
When conducting a search for partners, consider those that have a vested interest in public schools, the health of students, and/or improving child and adolescent safety and privacy when using social media platforms.
Organizations Working with Tech Firms on Child Online Safety
Students can offer valuable insight on how personal devices may enhance or hinder learning environments and what boundaries make sense to them. Families also bring important perspectives to the discussion, helping shape guidelines that balance educational needs with family values around technology use. Partners that amplify the voices of students and families include:
- Local Student Councils or Youth Advisory Councils
- Design It For Us
- Log Off Movement
- The National Parent Teacher Association
- Parents for Safe Online Spaces
- Family Online Safety Institute
To increase buy-in and aid the implementation of policy, it’s important to engage families and students from the beginning and have transparent conversations about concerns, in particular communication during the school day, and expected outcomes for a policy on limiting student use of personal devices in school. Affiliates that partner with first responder organizations in the community can receive support planning for communication during emergency and non-emergency events.
Educator-Supported Bell-to-Bell Cellphone Prohibition in Public Schools
Health and Safety and Other Committees That Address These Issues
Committees such as school health advisory committees, health and safety committees, or wellness teams focus on helping schools improve the well-being of students by advising them on a variety of health issues and providing guidance on school policy and programs. When unions engage in these committees, educators have a stronger voice in health decisions and policies that are more equitable, sustainable, and reflective of students’ and educators' needs.
State-Level Engagement
Operating across districts, regions, or statewide systems, state affiliates can provide a strategic role in shaping policy, building capacity, and helping local unions implement consistent practices, such as schoolwide enforcement expectations, professional learning, and equity and accessibility guidelines.
To advocate for student personal device restrictions, corporate accountability, and media literacy, state affiliates can:
- Advocate for statewide policy and guidance on the health issue
- Ensure educator voice is represented through testimony and public comment
- Participate in state-level coalitions and committees
- Contribute to draft policy and guidance language
- Provide training to local leaders on effective participation on a committee and support them participating in their local committee
- Create and/or share guidance documents and sample policy language to advance the health issue
- Provide technical assistance to the local leader when they are participating in local policy development
Local-Level Engagement
Local affiliates can play a more hand-on, relationship-driven, and implementation-focused role in committees than state affiliates.
To advocate for student personal device restrictions, corporate accountability, and media literacy, local affiliates can:
- Ensure they have a seat on the district and/or school committee
- Speak on behalf of the educator experience and the needs of the students and school, including climate and working conditions
- Help adopt local health programs and policies reflective of the local affiliate position
- Collaborate on implementation plans
- Build and strengthen partnerships between educators, families, and community organizations
- Help create a wellness culture in the district/ schools
- Establish new committees or repurpose existing committees to address these issues
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