Ohio Senate votes 30-2 to ban student cellphone use in K-12 schools
May 15—The Ohio Senate passed a measure this week that would generally prohibit Ohio K-12 students from using cellphones during the school day.
Senate Bill 158 passed by a vote of 30-2 Wednesday, with two Democratic detractors. It's already received the blessing of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who in recent years has connected cellphones to negative learning outcomes, worrying mental health and poor socialization among children.
"The facts are clear: School districts that have restricted student cellphone use during the instructional day have seen a return to noisy classrooms, fostering real, face-to-face conversations and relationships," said Sen. Jane Timken, R-Canton, while encouraging her colleagues to vote for her bill. "Eliminating cellphones in schools leads to improved academic performances and allows (students) to develop academically and socially and thrive."
Numerous educators have said the classroom atmosphere is better without cellphones, but Timken's comment about improved academic performance is one that is still up for debate.
According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, much of the academic research on the issue so far has been outside the U.S. One English study found increased academic performance after schools banned cell phones, but a similar study in Sweden found no relationship between school cell phone bans and academic performance. A 2024 Norwegian study on school smartphone bans showed some GPA improvement for girls, especially from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
S.B. 158, if passed into law, would require each Ohio public school to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of cellphones by students during instructional hours.
The bill is a slight adjustment from Ohio's current law, also pushed by DeWine, which required every school district in the state to adopt policies to limit cellphone use during the school day.
S.B. 158 would allow schools to make exceptions for students who have a health concern that needs to be monitored, according to the legislature's nonpartisan analysis of the bill.
The bill now heads to the Ohio House, which has previously approved of state efforts to cut down on cellphone use during the school day.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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