States Are Cracking Down on Cellphones in Schools. What That Looks Like Education Week
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Ohio has joined a small but growing number of states that are cracking down on students’ 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.
Florida became the first state to ban cellphones in K-12 classrooms last year. Indiana passed a law in April that will ban cellphones in classrooms 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’s new law, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine May 15, 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’ cellphone use in schools that “seeks to minimize students’ use of cellphones,” according to the state education department.
