Indiana Senate Bill 78 could silence the buzz of notifications in the classroom by mandating cell phone use during the school day — drawing support from educators and mixed reactions from parents.
The bill, authored by Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, would require schools to adopt uniform policies prohibiting student use of cellphones and other wireless communication devices for the entire school day, expanding on the state’s current policy, which applies only during instructional time.
The bill passed the Senate on Jan. 20 with a vote of 28-19 and passed the House Education Committee with a unanimous vote on Jan. 28. Now it awaits a vote at the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday; the bill is set for amendment and vote only.
Throughout the process, concerns from lawmakers and the public have centered around students’ safety, costs and enforcement burdens on schools.
Educator perspective
Whiteland Community High School Principal Duke Lines gave testimony during the House Education Committee meeting on Jan. 28 in support of the bill.
“Reducing distractions, protecting instructional time and helping students remain focused are priorities we work toward every day at Whiteland,” he said. “Under the current cell phone law, we have implemented a structured and intentional phone policy as we have seen positive impacts on student engagement, behavior, attendance and academic performance.”
If the bill passes, Lines said the district would update its existing protocols and adopt a revised policy in alignment with the legislative language and guidance from the IDOE.
Lines did not want to speculate on specific enforcement practices until the guidance is finalized, but said it would be thoughtful and consistent with the discipline framework already in the student handbook. Schools would have the option to purchase storage pouches for cell phones and other devices, but it would not be required.
Franklin Superintendent David Clendening spoke with some student groups about the bill, and he said they were not in favor of it.
“Although they were actually pretty mature about it when we talked, and they understood the need to stay engaged,” he said.
The latest draft allows schools to use safety grant dollars to purchase storage pouches for phones and similar devices — while carving out the exception for audio-only electronic note-taking devices that can record and transcribe lectures, but cannot access the internet or social media. Smartwatches would also be part of the ban.
A student may be permitted to have their cell phone if it’s deemed necessary for the management of a documented medical condition, authorized by the superintendent or necessary for language translation to ensure access for multi-lingual learners.
Parents’ thoughts
The reactions from parents on SB78 have been mixed. They’ve expressed concerns about student safety and enforcement.
A parent who wished to be kept anonymous for her family’s safety pulled her child out of school because of the current school policy on cell phones.
“This is a huge safety issue when children are going home alone, and landlines are no longer being used,” she said. “…We want our child to be able to call us if there is a school shooting, being physically bullied, exposed to drugs … or other safety concerns.”
Her daughter is now enrolled in online school and fears that if the bill passes, she will pull all of her children out of public school.
”The world is a dangerous place and parents need to know where their kids are and contact their kids 24/7 as long as it does not interfere with instructional time,” she said.
Jay Bee, a parent in Whiteland, said he could see why lawmakers want to ban cell phones for the entire day, but is unsure how comfortable he would be not being able to talk to his daughter.
“Personally, my daughter is a good kid and doesn’t use her phone during the day because it is the rule and she doesn’t want to break rules,” he said. “I honestly am not sure how comfortable I would be knowing she did not have access to her phone in an emergency situation, or that the phone could be rendered useless with a device like a scrambler. It is a long shot, but there could be a situation where the teacher is not able to phone the office and having no line of communication at all would not be good.”
Melissa Kelly, a parent of a Center Grove student, said it’s crucial for parents, students, constituents and lawmakers to understand the precise language of the bill.
The committee also adopted bill language explicitly requiring that wireless devices be stored away, powered off and inaccessible to a student throughout the school day, but students can still bring them to school.
The final amendment allows students — where permitted by a school —to bring their own laptops and tablets for instructional use. But the bill excluded cellphones, gaming smartwatches and requires those devices to be subject to school-managed network filters that block social media, gaming and other non-instructional content.
“While the bill strictly prohibits device use during the day and requires schools to implement policies either banning devices or securing them entirely, it also states that these policies cannot prevent device use during the school day if authorized by the superintendent,” Kelly said. “This raises a critical question: how can students access and use a phone during an emergency if they are prohibited from having or using it except in such situations?”
In emergencies such as school shootings, bomb threats, fires or tornadoes, students would be unable to retrieve their phones from lockers.
“How would lawmakers feel if they were held accountable for preventing children from calling for help, expressing love to their parents one last time, or assisting a classmate in doing the same,” Kelly said.
Kelly believes it’s not the government’s role to dictate school policies when it comes to cell phones and other devices.
“Schools should be empowered to determine what is best for their environments, including where devices are permitted and the disciplinary measures for noncompliance,” she said.
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