In recent years, cell phone ban policies have become prominent throughout schools in the U.S. Some states are progressing with stricter regulations regarding cell phone use during school hours.
A Minnesota state law passed last year required all districts to have a cell phone policy implemented by March 2025. For some schools, a tier system was implemented, while others banned cell phones completely. Now, a new law is coming into play in Minnesota that will change the course of cell phones in Minnesota schools.
“During the pandemic, essentially everything was online. We spent way too much time in front of a screen instead of interacting with people,” Human Anatomy and Enriched Biology teacher Jeff Krause said. “[Cell phone use now] depends upon the class, the teacher, their mood, and what kind of energy they want to devote to policing it. I am constantly playing ‘whack-a-mole,’ and some teachers don’t support the system. So, if we don’t have a collaborative staff to begin with, then what’s the use?”
Minnesota senators are currently working on a new law to solve this dilemma. The law will ban cell phone use in kindergarten through eighth grade, and require high school students to keep phones in lockers/backpacks all day. The law could be enacted, but it will be the school’s decision whether or not to enforce it. “I think that the most important thing, and this is true for any new policy or any new law, is that the communication and the education has to be done right away,” Minnesota Rep. Julie Greene said. “It’s going to be really important for the teachers to have support and the principals to have support, and the students to have support, [It’s like] a commitment, we’re all in this together.”
Greene noted that every voice matters in this action, especially the student voice. “I think one of the things that I think is always important, especially when we’re doing this, is to make sure we’re listening to students and student voices and making sure there is a good understanding,” Rep. Greene said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on March 27, 2025
