LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom have little in common ideologically, but the two have both been vocal supporters of an idea that quickly gained bipartisan appeal in the states Finds: Students’ cell phones must be banned during the school day.
At least eight states have enacted such bans in the past two years, and several more states are considering proposals this year.
Here’s a look at the push by states for such bans.
Why do states ban cell phones in schools?
The push for cell phone bans has been driven by concerns about the impact of screen time on children’s mental health and complaints from teachers that cell phones have become a constant distraction in the classroom.
The general surgeon Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has urged Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms about their impact on juvenile people’s lives, said schools must offer phone-free times.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 77% of U.S. schools nationwide say they ban cell phones in school for non-academic purposes. But this number is misleading. This does not mean that students follow these bans or that all schools enforce them.
Kim Whitman, co-founder of the Phone Free Schools Movement, said the issue comes as parents and teachers in both red and blue states struggle with the consequences of mobile device operate on children.
“It doesn’t matter if you live in a big city or a rural town, the city or the suburbs, all children struggle and need a seven-hour break from the pressures of phones and social media during the school day,” she said.
Which states are issuing bans?
At least eight states — California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia — have enacted measures banning or restricting student operate of cell phones in schools.
The guidelines are very different. Florida was the first state to crack down on phones in schools, passing a law in 2023 that requires all public schools to ban cell phone operate during class time and block access to social media over district Wi-Fi.
A 2024 California law requires the state’s nearly 1,000 school districts to create their own cell phone policies by July 2026.
Several other states have not banned phones, but have encouraged school districts to adopt such restrictions or allocated funds to store phones during the day.
Sanders announced a pilot program last year that provides grants to schools that adopt phone-free policies, and more than 100 schools signed up. In her State of the State address this week, Sanders proposed an outright ban.
“We will ban cell phones from bell to bell in our schools so that our children are not distracted in class or outside of class,” Sanders said.
Other governors who have recently called for bans include Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who was sworn in this month, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has suggested pursuing a statewide policy but has not provided details.
What is the resistance to the bans?
The plan has faced resistance from some parents who say they need to be able to contact their children directly in an emergency.
Some parents have pointed to recent school shootings in which access to cellphones was the only way for some students to communicate with loved ones in what they said could be the last time.
But supporters of the bans have pointed out that students’ phones could pose additional danger in an emergency by distracting students or giving away their location during a shooting.
Parents who oppose the ban have also said they want their children to have access to their phones for other purposes, such as coordinating transportation.
Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, said she agreed with the dangers of social media for children but believed the bans sought by states took too broad an approach. Banning the devices during the school day won’t solve underlying problems like bullying or the dangers of social media, she said.
“We have not done our job as adults and tried to teach our children the skills they need to actually use this technology,” she said. “We would just throw the can down the street and throw it in the deep end of the pool when they were alone after school.”
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Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut, Margery Beck, Holly Ramer and Anthony Izaguire contributed to this report.
