Press Release
RE: SB 181 and HB 208
July 31, 2025
The Kentucky Journalism Teacher’s Association supports the intent of Senate Bill 181 regarding student/teacher communication and House Bill 208 regarding cell phone usage in schools. By authoring a blanket policy, however, both bills erode our mission as media arts teachers to foster real-life professional opportunities for our students and the opportunity to teach responsibility that will last long beyond their time in our classrooms as we prepare them for the workplace.
The communication methods being adopted by most districts due to Senate Bill 181 do not offer the interaction required to run a successful newsroom. The need for instant contact in our field was likely not considered by districts or the legislature.
Any time that we send our students out with school issued equipment, we are regularly putting $5,000 in their hands. They need to be able to get feedback from advisers on where to go, how to troubleshoot equipment and report any issues. Limiting lines of communication makes this difficult and will ultimately lead to an increase in damaged equipment and student journalists placed in uncomfortable situations that could be easily avoided with a text or phone call.
KYJTA is asking districts to work with advisers to find additional methods of communication that are both traceable and used in professional newsrooms that can be approved by Boards of Education throughout the state.
House Bill 208 takes the most valuable tool that present day journalists use, their cell phones, out of their hands. This will increase costs for media arts programs and missed seat time in the classroom.
The job of the student journalist is to cover the world around them in real time. If something is happening in an engineering classroom, for example, our student reporters have simply used their phone to capture video, photos and record interviews. With a broad ban on cell phones, this is not possible.
Since the advent of cell phones, we have essentially been one to one with most every student having a camera and recorder at their disposal. With a broad ban on this access, programs will have to purchase recorders and additional cameras and that cost is high.
The main issue with the ban is seat time. Our students will still be required to cover those events at school, but now they will have to walk down to the journalism room to get their camera and recorder. Missed seat time is a difficult trade off when they already have the tools at their disposal in their cell phones.
KYJTA is asking districts to adopt a policy that will allow cell phone use with permission from teachers for journalistic purposes. We hold our student journalists to high standards and feel confident that they will comply with the intent of the ban while using their devices for educational purposes.
The state has tasked media arts teachers with creating real-world environments as we get our students career ready. We appreciate your help as we navigate our unique circumstances.
