A new bill has been proposed in the Vermont state senate this week that would rock the world of nearly every adolescent in the state. While the bill is not expected to actually become law, it would ban all persons under the age of 21 from using or owning a cellphone.
So not only did the government change the age to buy tobacco to 21-years-old, but now they want to determine the age in which a person can own a cellphone? They have far overstepped their bounds!
WSBTV reports:
The controversial bill was introduced by Democratic state senator John Rodgers on the first day of Vermont’s 2020 legislative session. The bill would make cellphone possession or use a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of a year behind bars and a $1,000 fine, according to the Times Argus.
Two of the main concerns for proposing the bill are traffic accidents due to cellphone use, and bullying.
“The use of cell phones while driving is one of the leading killers of 15 teenagers in the United States,” the bill states, “Young people frequently use cell phones to bully and threaten other young people, activities that have been linked to many suicides,” the bill states.
“In light of the dangerous and life-threatening consequences of cell phone use by young people, it is clear that persons under 21 years of age are not developmentally mature enough to safely possess them,” it concludes, lumping cellphones in the same category as tobacco, drinking, and concealing a firearm.
Rodgers to Times Argus that he doesn’t even want the bill to pass and states that it’s not even one that he will vote for, but that he only introduced it to make a point to other lawmakers.
“I have no delusions that it’s going to pass. I wouldn’t probably vote for it myself,” he said.
How do you feel about this bill?
