LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be traveling to Switzerland later this month for the World Economic Forum, where she will speak on two panels, according to a news release.
Her office said she will be in Davos from Jan. 22 to 24, speaking on a panel about smartphones, social media, and the youth mental health crisis.
Jonathan Haidt, the author of “The Anxious Generation,” will also be on the panel. His book, which was released last year, looks at the impact smartphones and social media have on children.
Sanders’s office said the other panel will focus on the role states play in presidential transitions. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshears will also be on the panel.
The governor is also expected to meet with business leaders, encouraging them to invest in the state.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gives state-of-the-state address, introduces new policy initiatives
Last year, Sanders and Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva asked for school districts to join the state’s new phone-free mental health pilot program.
She later said she now wants to require all districts to ban cell phones during the school day, but the proposal will leave it to the districts on how to craft the policy, according to the Associated Press.
“Teachers know (cellphones are) a huge distraction, but much bigger than that is that it is impacting the mental health of so many of our students,” Sanders said to reporters.
Sanders’s office told AP that the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation, a nonprofit, and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission are paying for the governor’s travel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.