Bill To Ban Cell Phones In School Filed In Wyoming Legislature

A bill that would order Wyoming school districts to develop policies against cell phones and smart watches in class has been filed for the 2025 session of the Wyoming Legislature.

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You can read Senate File 21 here.

It's sponsored by Senator Wendy Shuler [R-Uinta County].

The bill would include exemptions for certain situations, including emergencies or for students with medical conditions that might require access to a cell phone.

Such a ban would hardly be unprecedented.

According to Education Week, Florida became the first state to ban students from using cell phones during class hours last year.

Now the Los  Angeles Unified School District, one of the largest in the country, has taken a similar step. California Governor Gavin Newsome earlier this year signed a bill calling for limiting cell phones in schools. An Ohio law doesn't ban the phones, but does direct all of the state's school districts to come up with a policy on cell phones in school.

Several nations have school cell phone bans in place, including Israel, Great Britain, Russia and several others.

Arguments For Banning Cell Phones In School

Proponents say the devices are clearly a distraction, and some go so far as to argue that simply the presence of the phones can cause students to lose focus, even if they aren't in use. But some ban proponents say the problems caused by smartphones go beyond simply being a distraction, arguing they allow for cyberbullying and have even been linked to depression.

Arguments Against Banning Cell Phones In School

But not everyone agrees that the phones should be banned in school.

For one thing, they allow parents to stay in touch with their kids when they are in school Some argue that decisions on smartphones should be left up to parents, not schools. Is this a parental rights issue? Some would say that it is

Smartphones can also provide students with instant information at their fingertips, ranging from dictionaries to maps to the ability to 'Google" information. Another argument against banning the phones is that if the idea of education is to prepare young people for the real world, familiarity with cellphone technology is part of that larger issue.

The Wyoming Legislature is slated to convene in a two-month General Session on Jan. 14 in Cheyenne.