Senate Republicans Advance Bipartisan Bill to Restrict Cellphones in School Classrooms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                         

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Senate Republicans Advance Bipartisan Bill to

Restrict Cellphones in School Classrooms

PHOENIX, ARIZONA— Senator Shawnna Bolick is working to keep kids focused in the classroom and to mitigate mental health concerns among Arizona's youth with legislation to restrict cellphone use in schools. SB 1226 and SB 1227 today passed out of the Senate Education Committee.

72% of U.S. high school teachers say cellphones are a major problem in their classrooms. States across the country are responding by implementing restrictions on cellphones in schools to help end detrimental distractions and foster a healthy learning environment for students. California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Virginia are among the red and blue states that have already adopted policies limiting cellphone use in the classroom. Arizona would be the latest to do so if SB 1226 and SB 1227 are signed into law.

SB 1226 requires school districts to develop and adopt policies to restrict or eliminate students' use of cellphones, gaming devices, and video players during instructional time, with notable exceptions, while also still providing parents with the ability to contact and communicate with their children when they need to. SB 1227 expands the School Safety Program to support the costs of implementing cellphone restrictions in school classrooms, as schools will need to have a secure but accessible storage location within their facilities for students to deposit their cellphones and devices.

"Cellphones are addictive, and our children are getting hooked on more screen time over class time," said Senator Bolick. "Teachers have expressed growing concerns to me over cellphone use in their classrooms for a variety of reasons. Our kids are suffering from anxiety, depression, bullying, and they're not engaging in classroom discussions when they're constantly scrolling through social media or texting during classroom time. Studies show students who use their cellphones during instruction are not taking notes and have poorer academic performance compared with students who aren't accessing their devices. Cellphones can also help facilitate cheating and plagiarism. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will help minimize distractions and negative psychological impacts on our impressionable youth while still providing parents the ability to communicate with their children. I'm pleased the bills passed out of committee, and I look forward to them being implemented in Arizona."

###

For more information, contact:

Kim Quintero

Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus

kquintero@azleg.gov