Corrected: Indiana passed a law restricting cellphones in March.
Ohio has joined a small but growing number of states that are cracking down on students鈥� cellphone use in schools. Once a problem typically dealt with at the district, school, or classroom level, state-level officials are increasingly stepping into the fray.
in K-12 classrooms last year. starting next school year. And as many as eight other state legislatures, from Kansas to Vermont, have considered bills that would prohibit students from using cellphones in class this year.
Ohio鈥檚 new law, , does not go so far as to ban cellphones during class time. But it does require that all districts in the state create policies governing students鈥� cellphone use in schools that 鈥渟eeks to minimize students鈥� use of cellphones,鈥� according to the state education department.
Earlier this year, the strongly encouraging districts to limit cellphone use in schools. Meanwhile, and sent a letter to the state鈥檚 board of education in January detailing his concerns with students鈥� access to the devices in class.
Even federal lawmakers are taking up the issue, albeit to a lesser extent: Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. and Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a bill in November that would require a federal study on how cellphone use in schools is affecting students鈥� academic performance and mental health. (Experts don鈥檛 predict that will translate into a federal ban on cellphones in schools because these decisions are typically left up to states or local districts.)
Can state bans on cellphones at school be effective?
Trent Bowers, the superintendent of the Worthington district in the Columbus metro area, said he thinks Ohio鈥檚 law strikes the appropriate balance by giving districts final say over what, exactly, their cellphone policies will look like.
鈥淚t really does allow for local control. Certainly, our state government has injected what they think should be the case, they鈥檝e made statements that they feel our schools should be cellphone free,鈥� he said, but the law doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean big changes for Worthington schools. 鈥淭he official policy [required by the new law] could codify what we have.鈥�
Currently, Worthington schools鈥� cellphone policy requires elementary students to keep cellphones in their backpacks and middle schoolers to store their cellphones in their lockers. High school students may keep their phones on them, so long as they obey individual class rules regarding their devices.
These rules aren鈥檛 a formal board policy, but they are outlined in the district鈥檚 student handbook, Bowers said.
The policy appears to meet the standards of the new Ohio law, but it could still prompt changes from the local school board.
鈥淚 think that we need to engage our teachers again and our families before we craft policies, and our board is committed to doing that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that there will be any change to our practice based on the law. But I think it is an opportunity for us to step back and say, 鈥榣et鈥檚 engage anew and see where we end up.鈥欌��
Why are cellphones a problem in schools?
Cellphones, and the near-constant source of distractions and drama they can create through 24/7 access to messaging apps, social media, and games, have become a major thorn in the side of educators. Research has found that students get hundreds of notifications on their cellphones a day, often during school hours. And many experts have raised alarms over how cellphone use is hurting kids鈥� mental health and well-being.
Teachers frequently sound off on how disruptive cellphones are to the classroom in Education Week Research Center surveys, singling them out as the single biggest behavioral-related issue they deal with. Some teachers describe students鈥� relationships with their cellphones as addictive.
But a counterpoint that surfaces in EdWeek Research Center surveys of teachers, principals, and district leaders, is that it鈥檚 schools鈥� job to teach students healthy cellphone habits.
While some schools have managed to rein in students鈥� use and leverage cellphones as teaching tools, other schools have struggled鈥攕ometimes with situations that sound like they come straight from a teen movie.
In Dothan, Ala., for example, an Instagram gossip account became a cesspool of shaming, name-calling, and rumor-mongering among middle school students until school leaders enacted a cellphone ban.
69传媒鈥� cellphone policies differ by grade level
By 2020, 77 percent of schools had prohibited non-academic use of cellphones during school hours, according to federal data.
A more recent EdWeek Research Center survey from last October found that many high schools allowed cellphone use in certain areas and times on campus, such as lunch, passing periods, in hallways, and outside on school grounds. Fifty percent of schools allow cellphones in the classroom so long as teachers allowed it and 10 percent allowed cellphones in classrooms regardless of whether the teacher wanted it. Only 9 percent of high schools banned cellphones completely on campus.
In Worthington schools, the district places greater restrictions on elementary and middle school cellphone use than on high schoolers, Bowers said, because it found that younger students lack the self-control needed to use their devices responsibly in school.
鈥淐ellphones are the challenge of our day, right? And how we handle cellphones,鈥� said Bowers. 鈥淲e went through a significant period of time where we very strongly felt like we needed to help kids learn how to utilize these tools appropriately. But a couple of years ago, we shifted at our middle schools and went cellphone free.鈥�
The outcome has been positive, Bowers said, and parents are mostly supportive as long as their students can have a phone on them as they travel to and from school.
Bowers says teachers鈥� opinions vary about whether students should be allowed to have their cellphones in class. That鈥檚 why at the high school level all teachers use a stoplight system. As students walk into each class, a red, yellow, or green dot on display signals whether they are allowed to use cellphones in that day鈥檚 class.
Even though his high schoolers didn鈥檛 struggle with managing their cellphones as much as the middle schoolers, there are still some older students for whom cellphones remain a challenge, said Bowers.
鈥淥bviously, it works well for a percentage of our students, and it鈥檚 a struggle for a different percentage of our students,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome students are more drawn to that device and have more trouble separating from it.鈥�
Explore our coverage around students鈥� use of cellphones in schools:
> Guide to setting a policy: Here鈥檚 a decisionmaking tool for educators to map out the different potential outcomes when putting cellphone policies in play.
> Cellphone bans and restrictions: See which states are requiring cellphone restrictions or bans in schools in our tracker. Explore our tracker.
> Nuisance or teaching tool? How teachers are turning an ubiquitous and growing class nuisance鈥攖he smartphone鈥攊nto a tool for learning.
> Cellphone policies, explained: Education Week breaks down the different ways schools are addressing cellphone use, and the factors to weigh before adopting or changing the rules. Check out our explainer.
> Tips from teens & teachers: Teenagers offer 6 tips on how schools should manage students鈥� cellphone use, and educators share their tips on policing cellphone use in classrooms.
> Then & now: How the 鈥渟exting鈥� panic previewed today鈥檚 debate about kids鈥� cellphone use.
