Books a greater wager than telephones, second girl Usha Vance tells Georgia college students

CANTON, Ga. – America’s college students ought to put down their telephones and browse a e book or embrace different actions as a substitute, second girl Usha Vance urged this week as she shared an “eye-opening” private revelation about “how literacy is faring in the United States.” 

She selected studying as her summer time initiative, Vance informed Fox News Digital, after she was impressed by her center kid’s curiosity in studying from watching his older brother. 

“He wanted to read, and he wanted me to teach him to read,” she mentioned in an interview. 

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“That took me down a rabbit hole of trying to understand how one teaches reading… and it was really eye-opening,” she added. She and her husband, Vice President JD Vance, have three youngsters.

At Cherokee Classical Academy in Canton, Georgia, on Thursday, the second girl inspired college students to place down their digital gadgets and have interaction with a e book as a substitute. (See the video on the prime of this text.) 

Second girl Usha Vance reads to youngsters at Cherokee Classical Academy in Canton, Georgia, on Aug. 21, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Harrison Koeppel)

“It’s wonderful to pick up things that are just a little harder and that require you to focus just a bit more… so later you can focus on what really matters,” she mentioned. 

“I think it’s a pretty hard time right now for a lot of people because we all have these iPhones and iPads – all these things that kind of draw your attention away,” she added.

“We all have these iPhones and iPads — all these things that draw your attention away.”

Her feedback got here throughout her newest occasion in her 2025 Summer Reading Challenge. The Cherokee Classical Academy is a “low-tech learning environment” that enforces a strict no cellphones throughout the college day coverage, a faculty official informed Fox News Digital. 

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In May, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed the Distraction-Free Education Act into regulation, prohibiting the usage of telephones and digital gadgets – together with smartwatches, tablets, laptops, and headphones – on college grounds, based on quite a few sources. 

The regulation, which takes impact in July 2026, will impose penalties if college students from kindergarten by way of eighth grade use their gadgets throughout college hours – from the primary bell till dismissal.

“I think it’s wonderful to pick up things that are just a little harder and that require you to focus just a bit more,” mentioned the second girl, “so later you can focus on what really matters.” (Official White House Photo by Harrison Koeppel)

By its actions, Georgia has joined different states – now totaling 20 – which have handed a school-day cellphone ban, whereas quite a few different states are banning utilization throughout tutorial and sophistication time.

Many states are recommending or requiring colleges and/or districts to set their very own tailor-made insurance policies, based on a number of reviews. 

‘Build strength or skill’

The second girl visited three completely different lecture rooms this week, watching classes on writing and math. She greeted dozens of scholars alongside the best way. 

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Reading is a option to “counteract” the time youngsters spend on digital gadgets, she informed reporters. 

“Whether that’s spending time outside, whether that’s engaging in the kinds of activities where you just can’t be distracted – you really have to commit to build strength or skill or whatever it might be.”

Second girl Usha Vance is proven Thursday with a faculty official throughout her 2025 Summer Reading Challenge occasion in Canton, Georgia. (Ashley J. DiMella/Fox News Digital)

Seventy-two % of lecturers consider cellphones have had a detrimental influence on their college students’ psychological well being, based on the National Center for Education Statistics. 

American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., informed Fox News Digital that folks ought to concentrate on, and oversee, their youngsters’s display time. 

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“Too much screen time for young people can interfere with healthy sleep, increase risks for anxiety and depression, and reduce physical activity.”

Mukkamala mentioned it is essential for kids to take “intentional breaks from screens” by creating routines sharing studying for instance.

Vice President JD Vance, his spouse Usha Vance, and their three youngsters pose throughout a tour on the Taj Mahal in Agra on April 23, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool/AFP through Getty Images)

Ms. Vance shared that her household enjoys spending time open air – and that she likes to construct issues. 

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“I built my kids a whole kitchen out of cardboard boxes and recycled materials. I’m building them a dollhouse right now,” she mentioned. 

The dollhouse might be just like their very own house, she mentioned. 

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The second girl’s 2025 Summer Reading Challenge, which started in June, has been encouraging America’s schoolchildren to learn books all summer time, hold observe of their progress and reap the advantages of studying.