A Rochester Hills state representative has introduced legislation for a possible statewide school cell phone ban policy.

Republican Mark Tisdel represents Michigan’s 55th district, which includes Rochester and Rochester Hills. He introduced House Bill 5921 last week, which will ban or restrict smartphones in schools throughout the state.

Tisdel estimated that only 27 out of 538 public school districts in the state currently have some form of cell phone ban or restrictions in place and is looking to create legislation to cover all schools statewide.

Although cell phone bans have been passed in seven different states, including Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota, Tisdel said he worked with other legislators and experts over two years to create the language for the bill rather than duplicate the policies implemented in those states.

“We started from scratch. I targeted it off of what some of the school districts have already had some experience with and established a minimum baseline and then in the legislation school districts are allowed to be more strict or add additional guardrails if they so choose,” said Tisdel.

He has seen positive results in Avondale schools, which is in his district.

Last year the district enacted a cell phone ban at Avondale Middle School. Students are required to put their phones in a magnetically sealed bag when they enter the school. They are allowed to hold onto their phones until they leave the building when the bags are magnetically unsealed.

Avondale Superintendent James Schwartz said the results have been positive on several levels.

“At first the idea was met with some concern from parents and students, but when we explained the rationale and people got on board, they gave us a chance,” said Schwartz. “We have received quite a bit of support from parents.”

The district collected data over the course of the year and saw significant results.

“We’ve seen greater engagement in the classroom, better achievement overall and less disruptive behavior in classes,” said Schwartz.

Data also showed less fighting and less student conflicts overall compared to prior years.

“We saw less discipline overall because of kids not having phones,” said the superintendent. “We saw positive results, so much so that we extended it to the high school this year.”

At Avondale High School, students are allowed to hold onto their phones, but they must be turned off and out of sight while in classrooms.

Schwartz acknowledged concerns about direct contact between students and parents. He said the district has eliminated their automated phone system and staff at both schools directly answer all phone calls and can get messages to students directly from their parents.

Both Tisdel and Schwartz addressed the effects of a cell phone ban in a worst case scenario situation — an active shooter within a building.

“Law enforcement does not want to have 911 jammed up by a thousand phone calls, nor do we want kids in an emergency spending time on their phones; we need to get them out of that emergency,” said Schwartz.

“You want the students’ attention on the trained adult at the head of the classroom and you don’t want cell phones going off behind locked doors. Bullets go through doors and walls,” said Tisdel. “In the Oxford shooting, the 911 lines were flatlined because they were completely overloaded. Also, the last thing you want is hundreds of parents showing up in the cars blocking access to the building for police, first responders and EMS.”

He added, “Contacting your child during an emergency is counterproductive, but I fully empathize with and understand the desires of parents.”

Tisdel was told by administrators he spoken with that the atmosphere in the school changes when students are not using their phones.

“One of the biggest surprises was how loud the school becomes,” he said. “They are talking in the hallways, they are talking in the lunch rooms, they are talking face to face and that is a beautiful thing.”

Tisdel also introduced HB 5920, which requires age verification to sign up for social media services and requires parental consent.

“It is pure and simple contract law. When you read the terms of use for these social media platforms, those are contracts, so why is it that we would allow a 13 or 14 year old to consent to a contract that allows them to communicate with perfect strangers around the world 24 hours a day without their parents’ knowledge?” said Tisdel.

He said the legislation not only protects minors, but also their parents.

“The parents of the minor children are ultimately responsible for picking up the pieces of bad outcomes legally, financially and every other way,” said Tisdel. “So if you are responsible for the outcomes, that has to be directly connected to the authority to manage the outcome.”

Tisdel said he is introducing the bills now for uture after legislators in both the state House and Senate are sworn in after the November general election.

“I filed these to preserve the language, to hold a spot in line that I can identify as priorities within the (Republican) caucus to carry forward next year,” said Tisdel. “Nothing is going to happen between now and January. At this point they (Democrats) are not going to be interested in highlighting anything that could be seen as a win for any Republican, especially one in a 50-50 district.”

Tisdel will face off with Democrat Trevis Harrold in November.

He said he is not worried about how the proposed legislation will make him look in the eyes of teenagers around the state.

“You can make me the bad guy if you want to, it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “It is not going to bother me if 14 year-olds don’t like me anymore. “