Disconnect to Reconnect: Kansas lawmakers should adopt the proposed statewide cell phone ban

*Names are fictitious

For math teacher *Sally Sue, her block periods are a war zone. 

While she should be teaching about the Pythagorean Theorem or the latest problem set she assigned, she’s instead lecturing her freshmen about staying off their phones. She knows it’s district policy to keep students off their devices, but her threats don’t seem to make a difference. 

The students aren’t scared of a “school” phone ban. Even worse, their friends at the nearby *Sunflower Hill District don’t even have a phone ban. 

What Sue needs is the backing of a statewide law rather than “some” district policy that no students seem to follow anyway. Then, the policies would be equal across the state, even at the Sunflower Hill District. And, there’d be a sense of obligation to follow a policy that’s much larger than one district — it’s all the students in Kansas. 

Now, with the proposition of Senate Bill 302, Sue’s desire for a large-scale phone ban can become reality. 

The proposed bill, prohibiting the use of devices such as cell phones during instructional time — otherwise known as bell-to-bell — was introduced on Jan. 6 and would mandate a statewide ban. 

Kansas lawmakers need to adopt the statewide, bell-to-bell cell phone ban to support students through a commitment to improve education, and to support teachers by backing their efforts to effectively manage devices in their classrooms.

Currently, the Shawnee Mission School District’s phone policy states that the usage of cell phones and similar personal devices is restricted during instructional time in the school day. 

The term “school day” in this scenario is the time between arrival, 7:40 a.m., and dismissal, 2:40 p.m. Even more, the district uses the term “instructional time” to refer to time during the day other than passing periods and lunch. Yes, this means the entirety of block periods. 

Although the two state and district policies sound similar in what’s considered instructional time, the proposed law would ban students across the whole state rather than just one district or school. Then, teachers would have support and backing on a state level.

And the new law wouldn’t only mean supporting teachers, it would also be a commitment to protecting student learning, according to Senator Chase Blasi. 

“Phone-free schools give students space to think, build authentic human relationships and protect student mental health from constant digital pressure,” Blasi told the Kansas Reflector.

Even more, the disciplinary consequences would be decided upon by individual school districts in the potential ban.

Currently, the SMSD Student Handbook defines a violation of the personal electronic device policy as a Level 1 offense. The minimum first-time punishment is listed as an “informal talk” with a staff member, and a maximum repeated-offense punishment is listed as an in-school suspension for the duration of one to five days. 

It’s unknown if these SMSD policies will change with the possibility of a new statewide ban, however it’s important that the proposed law gives districts the choice to define how they’ll discipline their students. Districts will have the opportunity to choose disciplinary measures that align with their own values, rather than the state’s. 

Additionally, schools that don’t currently have any policies about phone prevention would benefit from the clear, already-written policies. If throughout the state all districts have the same rules, it doesn’t create any wiggle room when students transfer schools or teachers take a new teaching position.

While the current SMSD phone ban does reap the benefits of building student-to-student relationships, if Kansas lawmakers were to pass Bill 302, they’d be demonstrating their attention to students and an education-first approach. 

So, Kansas lawmakers, in order to support students and teachers and create a sense of consistency across the state, adopt Senate Bill 302 and enforce the cell phone ban.