Health Is Health — Let’s Protect Students’ Mental Well-Being
By Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota State Superintendent of Public Instruction
As North Dakota’s State Superintendent for more than a decade, I’ve had thousands of conversations with our teachers, students, and school leaders. I continue to hear — with increasing urgency — that teachers can’t even teach the basics anymore because student mental health challenges have become so overwhelming.
Each legislative session brings requests for funding to hire more counselors, social workers, and psychologists. These are necessary requests — but are we also willing to take steps to prevent the crisis from worsening?
If we won’t support policies that reduce the problem, we shouldn’t keep asking for more resources to handle the aftermath.
SB2354 and HB1160 give us that opportunity. By limiting personal electronic devices during school hours — with appropriate exceptions — we give students the gift of attention, connection, and presence. We replace distraction with space to learn and grow.
Other states are acting. Arkansas and Virginia have adopted phone-free school policies based on overwhelming research — like Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation — showing that smartphones and social media are rewiring young brains and feeding anxiety and depression.
Even where phone rules exist, inconsistent enforcement frustrates staff and confuses students. Teachers are meant to teach, not spend their time as phone police.
Don’t all children deserve protection for their mental health just like their physical health? We already keep harmful materials out of classrooms. Why not harmful digital distractions?
Health is health — and our laws should reflect that.
Update on ND Scholarship Progress Monitoring in eTranscript
The eTranscript progress monitoring tool for the North Dakota Scholarship is now fully operational. It provides a visual representation of the North Dakota Scholarship Chart and highlights completed indicators. Most data is sourced from PowerSchool and the Choice Ready Report, while WorkKeys and ASVAB data come directly from each student’s scholarship application.
Since several indicators rely on the Choice Ready Report, schools should update it as students complete them to ensure the tool’s accuracy. If an indicator is not marked, the student cannot use it for scholarship eligibility—no exceptions.
This spring, please review the tool to confirm which indicators are marked for your students. Please contact Jim Upgren at 701-328-2244 to report any discrepancies with the new progress monitoring tool, or with any questions about the North Dakota Scholarship.
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