Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders encourages schools to join phone-free mental health pilot program

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A program focusing on keeping youth off their phones for the sake of their mental health is being launched in Arkansas schools.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she and Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva had sent a letter to school district superintendents announcing the pilot program. The program will provide pouches for students to store their phones during the school day in order to reduce screen time.

Officials said the program will fund all secondary schools to provide the pouches to reduce screen time and social media use by students. The governor said a grant program component of the project will also provide telehealth mental health services, locate mental health providers and connect students & families to the providers and programs.

Sanders said the program came after meeting with school superintendents last month where recommendations were made.

“The Natural State is not unique; youth depression, anxiety, and isolation have risen across the country. But we do have a unique opportunity to address this crisis in a collaborative way,” Sanders and Oliva wrote in their letter.“We are excited to announce a pilot program focused on two key priorities: restricting in-school phone use and mental healthcare.”

The governor has been attentive to mental health issues arising from too-early cell phone use.

In May, she sent a copy of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation to all state and territorial American governors and all Arkansas legislators. The book promotes the idea that too-early cell phone use negatively impacts a young person’s mental health.

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