(TNS) — Missouri lawmakers passed a bill earlier this week requiring public schools to ban cellphone use during the school day.

When the bill was first filed, it called for a cellphone ban in schools during instructional time.

However, state lawmakers took a more restrictive approach, with a complete ban on cellphones during the school day, including during lunch breaks, passing periods and study hall.

Now, the bill is heading to Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk.

PARK HILL CELLPHONE RULES

Last week, the Park Hill School District adapted a new cellphone policy with the help of a task force of 30 parents, teachers, administrators and students. The new rules tighten restrictions for high school students, restricting access during instructional hours but allowing students to use cellphones and Bluetooth devices during passing periods and lunch time.Kelly Wachelf, the district’s chief communications officer, said Park Hill will review the policy to ensure the district is complying with state law and will update it over the summer if needed.

Wachel said the district was already reviewing its cellphone policy not only because of the legislation but also because of parent and teacher concerns.

“This year in our middle school and elementary schools, we did not allow cellphone access or electronic personal device access,” Wachel said. “That was really born out of a lot of parental feedback. We were having parents approach us about helping limit access for their kids during the day so we could focus on classroom learning.”

CELLPHONES IN SCHOOLS

Andi Osborne, a junior at LEAD Innovation Studio in Park Hill, said she was more than willing to give up her cellphone during the school day, but she acknowledged she has a different relationship to her phone than many of her peers.

She didn’t join social media until last year.

For other students, Osborne said limiting phone usage in schools would be a challenge.

“It seemed like the only solution was we have to take (phones) away in some sort of way,” she said. “I think the students kind of realized that and we’re like, okay, if they’re gonna get taken away at least let me give a solution to what that could look like.”

Osborne, among the students who were part of the district’s process to craft a new policy, was surprised that several fellow students admitted in a survey conducted by the district’s task force that their phones were a distraction during school.

Through the survey and its 3,000 responses, the district found that 71 percent of students said they use their phones daily during instructional time for non-academic purposes.

The top four things students reported using their device for were:

• Texting/messaging
• Streaming/listening to music
• Checking social media apps
• Watching videos

Nikki Helling, a fifth-year English teacher at Park Hill South High School, said she’s noticed some of her younger students are affected by their phones, even outside of class.

As the student council sponsor, she sees students of all different grade levels interact. She’s noticed that when her younger students are in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation, they tend to use their cellphones as a crutch to comfort themselves.

As a younger teacher born in 1998, Helling said she’s not oblivious to the impacts of cellphones, but the research from the task force was able to help her make that connection clearer to her students.

“I don’t think I really made that connection that phone usage decreased the amount of face-to-face, emotional connection and time that students are having with their friends,” she said.

PHONE POLICIES IN OTHER DISTRICTS

During the 2024-2025 school year, Liberty Public Schools “expected” students to have phones silenced during the school day and asked students to “refrain from texting during instructional time, as cellphone etiquette is an expectation,” according to the district’s handbook.

While the district’s handbook does not explicitly ban cellphones, it does say that cellphone usage that is disruptive or interferes with the learning environment is prohibited.

North Kansas City Schools currently has a “bell-to-bell” cellphone policy that restricts students from using their cellphones during class time.

The student handbook says that students’ cellphones should not be seen, heard or accessed for any reason during class time. If electronic devices are needed for academic purposes, students should use their district-issued Macbook.

If Kehoe signs the legislation, schools will be expected to enact the total cellphone ban for the 2025-2026 school year.

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