Alabama and New York last week became the latest to adopt bell-to-bell bans on phones, smart watches and other personal electronic devices in school.
Policymakers across the country are moving to restrict their use in a bipartisan push to reclaim students’ attention in the classroom.
As of last month, 21 states had school cellphone laws or policies on the books according to Ballotpedia. A dozen passed new or updated restrictions this year, and bills were or are still being considered in nearly two dozen more.
The rapid adoption of school cellphone laws reflects the anxiety lawmakers, parents and mental health professionals feel about teenagers’ device use and its impact on their well-being.
“Our kids needed us to be bold. Our teachers needed us to be decisive,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a statement last week announcing the ban. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
She said it will help them focus in class, as well as lead to “laughter in the hallways … eye contact … [and] real human connection.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) is expected to sign a bill that would prohibit wireless communication device use during the instructional day and require students to complete a social media safety course prior to eighth grade.
“Teachers have been asking for this,” said Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R), the bill’s sponsor. “I can’t even tell you the number of conversations I’ve had over the last couple of years, but they needed this.”
Bills to restrict cellphone use during the school day were also passed this year in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, according to a review by Pluribus News.
Read more: Push to restrict cellphones in schools ramps up
Florida kicked off the trend with a first-in-the-nation law in 2023. California, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio and South Carolina approved laws last year.
This year, Florida lawmakers voted to expand their law. If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), phones would be outlawed during the entire day in elementary and middle schools and during instructional time in high schools. High schools in six counties will pilot an all-day ban.
Bills are currently under consideration or were introduced this year in Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Some bills direct school districts to adopt cellphone policies while others mandate statewide rules. The laws typically include exceptions for students with special needs, medical conditions or emergencies.
“I’m shocked at how quickly … it’s happening; in another two years we’ll have laws in place in most states,” said Lisa Tabb, co-founder of the Away for the Day campaign and co-producer of the Screenagers documentary series. “It’s the most bipartisan issue that is out there.”
In floor debates and committee hearings, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle frequently reference New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book “The Anxious Generation,” which amplified concerns about smartphones’ effects on teens.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said she sent Haidt’s book to every member of the state legislature. She toured schools with Haidt in December to highlight a pilot program banning phones in schools. Sanders signed a “Bell to Bell No Cell” bill into law in February.
Requiring schools to implement cellphone policies has proved easier for lawmakers than regulating social media sites, which has spawned dozens of lawsuits.
Some lawmakers and parents have pushed back on cellphone bans, citing concerns about student safety and the need for parents to reach their kids.
Alabama Sen. Chris Elliott (R) tried to amend his state’s bill to allow an exception for parent-child communications during the school day, but it was rejected according to the Associated Press.
“You are going to hear from parents back home if this passes, and they are not able to communicate with their child about practice being cancelled, a car breaking down,” Elliott warned his colleagues.