- Utah leaders propose new bill to ban phone use during school hours, including during recess and lunch.
- Lawmakers approved a classroom phone ban last year saying it will help students focus.
- Opponents argue it could harm students needing phones for medical or social reasons.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and other state leaders announced plans Wednesday to enact a statewide restriction on cellphones throughout the school day during the upcoming general legislative session.
The Legislature approved a law last year establishing a default policy banning cellphones from K-12 classrooms, allowing individual school districts to adopt stricter or looser standards as they saw fit. Now, lawmakers are poised to further restrict phone use by banning it from "bell to bell."
Cox, who is a regular social media user and has previously spoken about having a "Twitter addiction," said he removed social media from his phone three weeks ago and is already beginning to "feel my own brain starting to rewire itself back to the way it used to be."
"I lament that we did not get this done earlier, but we have an opportunity to fix what we got wrong last time," he said of expanding a school phone ban, saying it's the "single most important thing we can do for our students in our schools."
SB69, which was introduced ahead of the legislative session that begins Jan. 20, is a follow-up to last year's classroom phone ban. Sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, the bill would set a statewide standard restricting cellphone and smart watch use throughout the school day, including during lunch, recess and class breaks.
Districts would still be allowed to adopt their own standards, but leaders say having a statewide benchmark sets a norm for students who do not have access to devices during class.
Learning isn't limited to class time, Cox said, and expanding the phone ban will help kids learn critical social skills.
"This is how we develop the human brain, but also develop as human beings," he said.
Daniel Woodruff, KSL
Fillmore challenged attendees at a press conference in the Capitol on Wednesday to clear their notifications, set their phones aside for two hours and then count the number of notifications that came in during that time — which he said is about the length of a typical high school class period.
He asked those gathered to imagine how students may struggle to focus if their phones are constantly urging them to "stop paying attention to the Pythagorean theorem (because) Taylor Swift has posted something online."
But opponents say a "bell-to-bell" ban would be harmful. Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, said teachers should not be required to enforce the ban when parents are the ones who buy the devices in the first place. She also said some students use phones or other devices to monitor medical conditions like diabetes, while others who are alienated from their peers use phones to contact someone who can help them.
"At some point, we need to train our future adults to use tools responsibly, instead of just taking them out of their hands," Riebe said. "There are many students that can use their phones responsibly during the day."
Monica Wilbur, former Utah State Board of Education candidate, added that a ban is "total overkill" and "offensive" to parents.
"Your right to reach your children for any reason at school should never, ever depend on which school they attend," Wilbur said. "Phones can be a distraction, absolutely, but they can also be a lifeline and a protection for kids when crazy things happen at school and kids need to capture proof of it, or get in touch with mom or dad about it."
Lawmakers have considered this issue before. A similar bill in 2023, prohibiting students from possessing cellphones or smart watches in the classroom, failed to advance out of a House committee. Opponents argued it amounted to government overreach.
In the Granite School District in Salt Lake County, students in kindergarten through eighth grade are currently prohibited from using phones at school, while students in ninth through 12th grade are generally banned from using them during class time but can use them during lunch or between class periods.
"Granite is supportive of legislation that would prohibit cellphones in schools as it would reduce distractions and help students focus in class and better engage with their peers," district spokesperson Luke Allen said. "We have seen positive effects from our current K-8 bell-to-bell ban."
A recent study published in the journal JAMA found that 13- to 18-year-olds spend more than 8.5 hours on "screen-based entertainment" each day, including more than an hour of time on their phones during school hours.
A separate bill introduced by Fillmore this year, SB88, would require schools that allow students to use electronic devices to allow parents to monitor their child's device use.
At this point, these bills are just proposals and could change. They would need to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives before reaching the governor's desk.
