Poll: Should The Wyoming Legislature Ban Cell Phones In School?

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.

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.

Arguments Pro And Con On Cell Phone Bans

In debates on cell phone bans across the country, 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

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.

Maybe the whole thing should be left up to parents? Is it a parental rights issue?

The counter argument that viewpoint is that if some kids have cellphons and others don't, the devices still present a distraction to learning in the classroom. And is that approach fair to everyone?

In regard to a state ban, there is another point of view that says that while the phones may be a detriment to learning and a distraction, it's not the state's place to mandate a one size fits all approach. Maybe it should be left up to the individual school districts? Local control of education is a concept that has many supporters in Wyoming.

Take our poll and give us your opinion!