A new state law required school districts to create a policy about cellphones and next requires schools to ban cellphones in buildings by the beginning of next school year.
While some parents and students say school cellphone bans are causing them headaches or making it more difficult to communicate between family members during the day, school administrators say academics and student behavior have improved in their buildings.
Jason Enix, superintendent for Huber Heights City Schools, which implemented a ban on cellphones last year at Weisenborn Junior High School and expanded that ban to the rest of the schools this year, said parents were initially worried about the ban.
“There were a few initial complaints about not being able to communicate with students during the day or for emergencies,” Enix said. “Most parents appeared to be in favor however and as the year progressed, with consistent expectations in place, there were very few concerns expressed.”
Enix said students were less distracted during the school day. With fewer texts and social media posts seen during the day, students were less likely to argue or fight, he said.
Why are cellphones banned?
Administrators and state lawmakers say that banning cellphones helps with academic and social issues that come up between teenagers who closely interact daily within schools.
Pediatricians say limiting cellphone use can help with sleep and improve mental health outcomes.
While interviewing students for this news outlet’s series Mental Health Matters that focused on children’s mental health last year, teenagers told me they thought mental health was impacted by social media and the constant barrage of messaging that’s always available through a cellphone.
I also heard good stories about cellphones, though. For example, students could talk to family members and friends who no longer lived nearby.
Guardians who want to limit more social media use for kids can start with the American Association of Pediatrics’ Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, which includes conversation starters, ways parents can curb their own use and more.
State law
Current law requires schools to have a policy for cellphone use in schools. Generally, this applies more to middle and high school students, who are more likely to be carrying a cellphone during school hours. But elementary schools can also be impacted by the policies, which can encompass items like personal tablets, headphones and smartwatches.
Earlier this summer, lawmakers required schools to have a policy limiting cellphone use in the classroom. The updated Ohio law was included in the recent state budget.
The law allows for exceptions for students who have health concerns that need monitoring and allows students to use phones for learning. Students who need to use their phones to monitor a health condition will need to provide written documentation from their physician.
A study from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce in December 2024 found about 61% of the schools that responded to the survey had adopted formal policies around cellphones.
About 45% of the respondents said cellphone use is limited to select times of the school day and 41% said phones are not allowed at any time during standard school hours.
The survey was sent to more than 1,000 schools, including charter schools, traditional public schools, independent STEM schools and joint vocational schools. In total, 992 districts replied.
What do kids think?
Oakwood High School senior Mannie Williams said he agrees with the statewide trend towards removing cellphones from the classroom, but said he feels Oakwood’s recent ban on phones goes further than needed by the law.
Oakwood’s policy “severely restricts devices, including cellphones, during instructional time,” said Oakwood superintendent Neil Gupta earlier this year.
Williams said not being able to use the cellphones during the school day is inconvenient, especially for busy students.
“The policy technically still is further than what the law requires because it still bans them during study halls and just walking through the hallways, which is still a little bit far, in my opinion,” Williams said.
Last year, Williams started a petition asking the Oakwood school board not to pass the policy. It got hundreds of signatures, but the policy was ultimately passed.
Williams said he was told by members of the school board that other schools had seen huge changes due to these types of policies, but so far, he said he hasn’t seen big changes at Oakwood.
What schools have changed policy?
Previous reviews of school policies by this news outlet have found most districts have a policy in place mostly or completely banning cellphones in class.
Only a handful of school districts reported needing to change anything to keep in compliance with state law.
Xenia City Schools, for example, said they made “minor” changes to their existing policy to keep in compliance with state law. Northmont made a change to ban cellphones in the hallways and lunch.
“We would have adopted this rule, regardless of the new law, as we saw only positive results when our middle school adopted a no phones rule about (two) years ago,” said Jenny Wood, spokeswoman for Northmont City Schools.
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