ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Senate will discuss a bill on Monday that, if passed, would ban cell phones for students in elementary and middle schools and in classrooms for high school students.
MN Senate school cell phone ban
What we know:
Senate File 508 amends a law passed last year that requires districts and charter schools to put in place a cell phone policy by March 2025.
The bill adds a change that would ban students from having a cell phone or smartwatch entirely in kindergarten through eighth grade. For grades nine through 12, the bill would just ban cell phones in classrooms.
The bill does include exceptions for devices needed for medical use, devices used in individualized education programs (IEPs), and at the discretion of a school principal.
If passed, the bans would take effect in the 2026-27 school year.
The other side:
Along with the ban, the bill would also send one-time funds to schools to help enforce the new cell phone policy. The bill also funds a statewide campaign to explain the negative impacts of too much screen time on children.
In 2022, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill to cut down screentime for young students.
What we don’t know:
Right now, it’s unclear how much support the bill might have to make it through the legislature.
There is not yet a companion bill in the House – which just started conducting business last week after a weeks-long standoff.
The Senate bill does have bipartisan authorship, with Assistant Minority Leader Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls) joining three DFL members, Sen. Alice Mann (DFL-Edina), Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie), and Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), to write the bill.
What they’re saying:
At a hearing on Monday, Sen. Mann explained some of the problems that come with cell phones, like bullying, cheating in class, taking photos of each other without consent, and sharing nude photos.
“In one district, when we asked if kids had ever seen a naked picture of a random classmate,” explained Sen. Mann, “the majority of the kids that were at the roundtable shrugged and said ‘yeah’ – like it was no big deal as our jaws hit the floor.”
Sen. Mann says every district reported that cell phones are a distraction in class and there have been increased conflicts and bullying between students. She also pointed out a lot of schools have put in place cell phone bans across the country, and she’s not aware of one that has reversed the ban.
As part of the hearing, several education leaders testified in support of the ban.
Cell phone bans in other states
The backstory:
At the beginning of the school year last September, the Kaiser Family Foundation took a look at cell phone bans in other states.
Florida and Indiana ban the use of cell phones in class or instruction time. Louisiana prohibits the use of cell phones during the school day. Cell phones brought to school must be turned off and stored away. South Carolina also bans the use of cell phones during school hours.
California has also issued a law requiring schools to come up with a policy to restrict or ban phones in class.
Several other states, like Minnesota already has on the books, have passed bills in recent years requiring schools to put in place cell phone policies.
