Majority of US states now have laws banning or regulating cellphones in schools, with more to follow

By JEFF AMY ATLANTA AP Florida was the first state to pass a law regulating the use of cellphones in schools in Just two years later more than half of all states have laws in place with more likely to act soon Related Articles Over boos Columbia University president notes Mahmoud Khalil s absence at graduation Most of AAPI adults oppose college funding cuts and pupil deportations a new poll finds After traveling the margin for better schools various parents are pulling their kids and leaving the US UMN names Gretchen Ritter executive vice president provost H sker D s Bob Mould receives honorary degree and delivers Macalester College keynote Bills have sprinted through legislatures this year in states as varied as New York and Oklahoma reflecting a broad consensus that phones are bad for kids Connecticut state Rep Jennifer Leeper a Democrat and co-chair of the General Assembly s Instruction Committee on May called phones a cancer on our kids that are driving isolation loneliness decreasing attention and having major impacts both on social-emotional well-being but also learning Republicans express similar sentiments This is a not just an academic bill Republican Rep Scott Hilton reported after Georgia s bill which only bans phones in grades K- passed in March This is a mental strength bill It s a residents safety bill So far states have passed laws with eight other states and the District of Columbia implementing rules or making recommendations to local districts Of the states have acted this year Just Tuesday Nebraska Republican Gov Jim Pillen signed a law banning phones throughout the school day Earlier Tuesday Alaska lawmakers required schools to regulate cellphones when they overrode an coaching package Republican Gov Mike Dunleavy had vetoed for unrelated reasons More action is coming as bills await a governor s signature or veto in Florida Missouri Nebraska and New Hampshire Increasing focus on banning phones throughout the school day When Florida first acted lawmakers ordered schools to ban phones during instructional time while allowing them between classes or at lunch But now there s another bill awaiting Gov Ron DeSantis action that goes further It would ban phones for the entire school day for elementary and middle schools Ten states and the District of Columbia have enacted school day bans greater part for students in grades K- and they now outnumber the seven states with instructional time bans North Dakota Republican Gov Kelly Armstrong called the ban throughout the school day that he signed into law a huge win Students react as North Dakota Republican Gov Kelly Armstrong hands a pen to a girl after he signed a bill for a bell-to-bell cellphone ban for inhabitants school K- students on Friday April at Centennial Elementary School in Bismarck N D To the right of the governor is first lady Kjersti Armstrong Republican Sen Michelle Axtman is at left Republican Rep Jim Jonas is at right AP Photo Jack Dura Teachers wished it Parents requested it Principals desired it School boards longed it Armstrong declared Armstrong in recent months visited a grade school with such a ban in place He disclosed he saw kids engaging with each other and chortling at tables during lunch The bell-to-bell bans have been promoted in part by ExcelinEd the instruction think tank founded by former Florida Gov Jeb Bush The group s political affiliate has been working in lobbying for bans Nathan Hoffman ExcelinEd s senior director of state guidelines and advocacy reported barring phones throughout the day heads off problems outside of class like when students set up or record fights in halls That s often when you get a few of your biggest behavioral issues whether they go viral or not Hoffman explained Other states want school districts to set their own rules But other states particularly where there are strong traditions of local school control are mandating only that school districts adopt various kind of cellphone program believing districts will take the hint and sharply restrict phone access In Maine where specific lawmakers originally proposed a school day ban lawmakers are now considering a rewritten bill that would only require a framework And there have been a sparse states where lawmakers failed to act at all Maybe the greater part dramatic was in Wyoming where senators voted down a bill in January with particular opponents saying teachers or parents should set the rules Where policymakers have moved ahead there s a growing consensus around exceptions The greater part states are letting students use electronic devices to monitor anatomical necessities and meet the terms of their special mentoring plans Several are allowing exceptions for translation devices if English isn t a aspirant s first language or when a instructor wants students to use devices for classwork There are particular strange exceptions too South Carolina s original procedures allowed an exception for students who are volunteer firefighters West Virginia s new law allows smartwatches as long as they are not being used for communication Particular parents and students oppose the rules But by far the most of high-profile exception has been allowing cellphone use in event of emergencies One of the the majority common parent objections to a ban is that they would not be able to contact their child in a predicament like a school shooting It was only through text messages that parents knew what was happening declared Tinya Brown whose daughter is a freshman at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta where a shooting killed two students and two teachers in September She spoke against Georgia s law at a news conference in March Particular laws call for schools to find other tactics for parents to communicate with their children at schools but bulk lawmakers say they aid giving students access to their cellphones at least after the immediate danger has passed during an exigency In selected states students have testified in favor of regulations but it s also clear that numerous students especially in high schools are chafing under the rules Kaytlin Villescas a sophomore at Prairieville High School in the suburbs of Baton Rouge Louisiana is one attendee who took up the fight against bans starting a petition and telling WBRZ-TV in August that Louisiana s law requiring a school day ban is misguided She argued that schools should instead teach responsible use It is our proposition that rather than banning cellphone use entirely schools should impart guidelines on responsible use thereby building a beliefs of respect and self-regulation Villescas wrote in an online petition Most of states provide no funding to carry out laws A scarce states have provided money for districts to buy lockable phone storage pouches or other storage solutions New York for example plans to spend million But states have typically provided no cash New Hampshire lawmakers stripped a proposed million from their bill Providing various specific money for this would kind of ease several of those implementation challenges Hoffman declared That noted the majority states have not Associated Press writers Becky Bohrer in Juneau Alaska Susan Haigh in Hartford Connecticut Jack Dura in Bismarck North Dakota and Kate Payne in Tallahassee Florida contributed to this assessment