MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said student’s mental health, and cell phone use are at the top of his priorities this year.

“We certainly have a mental health crisis in families,” he said. “And particularly in youth in this country, and we want to make sure we’re addressing that.”

That crisis, Dr. Mackey said, is fueled by cell phone use and social media. He said this is a concern that he will be very vocal about in the upcoming legislative session.

“It’s really limiting social media. But, the only way we can get social media away from students during the school day is to limit the access to cell phones or smartphones,” Dr. Mackey said.

Rep. Mary Moore (D-Birmingham) said it’s not just about cell phone use in schools. She wants to see a better pay frequency for educators, and recruiting in this session.

“Some of the problems that we have is recruiting the type of; not only educators, but child nutrition workers, custodians, bus drivers, and people that can be committed to the system,” she remarked. “If the system was committed to them.”

Rep. Susan DuBose (R-Hoover) said cell phones should be put away from bell to bell. She said she wants to put more money towards the school choice program.

“We probably, with our current budget of $100 million allocated to school choice, only have room for up to 16,000 students,” said DuBose. She said over 11,000 students have applied to the program so far. “So, in less than a week, we’ve almost already utilized our full budget allocation.”

Besides cell phone use, Dr. Mackey said the board wants to see reading and math scores continue to go up. And, he said extended learning programs like after school and summer school will be key in 2025.

“Those times that we have children outside of the regular school day, how are we using that time to make sure that we are promoting learning?” said Dr. Mackey. “But also, promoting high quality childhood, keeping those children off the streets, out of trouble, and in very good, engaging programs.”

Dr. Mackey said he doesn’t know what the solution will be to cell phone use in the classroom. Some bills have already been pre-filed for the upcoming session that address the topic.

The 2025 legislative session starts on February 4th.

For anyone thinking of cooking up warm soup to stave off the winter cold, there’s an important recall you need to know about.

Walmart has recalled 12,000 units of Great Value Chicken Broth sold in 48-ounce cartons in two states – Alabama and Arkansas. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the recall is due to the “potential for packaging failures that could compromise the sterility of the product, resulting in spoilage.”

The products have a best if used by date of March 25, 2026 with lot code 98F09234. They were sold in aseptic paper cartons and a total of 2,023 cases or 12,138 cartons were included in the recall.

The broth was produced by Tree House Foods Inc. of British Columbia.

The FDA did not assign a risk level to the recall and did not report any incidents involving the products.

People with the broth should return it to Walmart for a refund.

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Alabama men’s basketball won somewhat comfortably against South Carolina.

Plenty went right in the 88-68 victory over the Gamecocks on Wednesday in Columbia, South Carolina. Alabama shot 55%, outrebounded the Gamecocks, saw the bench outscore South Carolina 39-4 while scoring more points in the paint, fast break points and 3-pointers.

But there was something with which Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats was displeased.

Free throws.

“Would have been better if we made some free throws tonight,” Oats said. “That was a disaster for us. But everything else … It was good enough to win tonight.”

Alabama finished 10-for-20 (50%) from the charity stripe, which was the lowest total of the season so far. The previous low was 51.4% against Kent State late in December.

Not a mark Oats wants, but it didn’t make a difference in the game. All the other ways Alabama scored, particularly in the first half, made free throws a non-factor. As a result, No. 5 Alabama (13-2, 2-0 SEC) beat South Carolina (10-5, 0-2).

“First road game for us in the SEC,” Oats said. “I thought our guys answered the bell pretty well.”

The free throws might have been a disaster, but there was plenty else that Oats liked. That includes the defense, which limited South Carolina to .971 points per possession.

“I thought our defense was significantly better for the whole 40,” Oats said.

Oats specifically praised the efforts of Mo Dioubate. He finished plus-19 while matched up mainly against Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina’s leading scorer and a likely first-round NBA Draft pick.

“I thought Dioubate did a great job guarding him,” Oats said. “He really impacts the game in a big way,” Oats said.

Boyles-Murray tallied six points, four of which came from free throws, while finishing 1-for-6 from the field. He also had two turnovers.

“We got a lot of good efforts from a lot of people,” Oats said. “Good road win for us.”

Next up, Alabama will face No. 10 Texas A&M on the road on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN)

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.