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📰 State eyes phone crackdown 📱⬇️

As Nantucket Public Schools report strong early results from their new cellphone restrictions, lawmakers on Beacon Hill are moving to take things even further statewide. In a 129-25 vote Wednesday night, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at curbing both phone use in schools and social media access at home.

The proposal, according to boston.com, would establish a bell-to-bell cellphone ban in all public K-12 schools and prohibit children under 14 from using social media entirely. Teens ages 14 and 15 would need parental consent to create accounts, and platforms would be required to verify ages and remove accounts that don’t comply. The measure is now headed to the Massachusetts Senate. If enacted, the rules would take effect in October. The push comes as Nantucket’s own policy appears to be working. According to Nantucket Current, surveys show roughly nine in 10 staff members at Nantucket High School and Cyrus Peirce Middle School report little to no classroom distraction from phones this year, with similar numbers citing improved student engagement and learning. About three-quarters of parents support the approach.

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State eyes phone crackdown for kids. Island drought downgraded. Committee applicants wanted. On this date in 1963, the USS Thresher was conducting deep-diving tests about 220 miles east of Cape Cod when it encountered difficulties and sank. Over 120 crew and shipyard personnel were aboard the vessel. None survived.