Two Kansas Senate leaders introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, to prohibit students from using a cell phone in school.
According to a press release, Senate Bill 302 — the text of which is not yet available — will prohibit cell phones in K-12 Kansas schools.
“Phone-free schools give students space to think, build authentic human relationships, and protect student mental health from constant digital pressure,” Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi (R-Andale) said. “The longer phones stay in classrooms, the harder it becomes to undo the damage.”
Senate Minority Leader Dina Sykes (D-Lenexa) agreed.
“Studies show that classrooms without phones have more engaged students leading to face-to-face conversations, stronger peer relationships, safer school environments and better academic outcomes,” she said. “Kansas has world class teachers and world class schools and we need to keep it that way and this legislation helps us do that.”
According to the release, SB 302 is a “high priority of lawmakers,” and is “expected to pass the Senate in January, where it will be sent to the House of Representatives.”
More than two-thirds of the Kansas Senate — 28 members — have signed on to the bill, and it is expected to impact both public and private schools accredited by the Kansas State Department of Education.
More than 30 states and Washington DC already ban cell phone use
As the Sentinel reported late last year, a survey in Education Week lists the efforts in 31 states and the District of Columbia to either restrict or outright ban cell phone use in schools, in an effort to improve student achievement, classroom discipline and teacher satisfaction.
But is the regulation of electronic devices effective in achieving those goals?
An ambitious research study, “Phones in Focus” plans to survey 100,000 educators by the end of the school year. The nonpartisan effort, supported by the National Governors Association and led by University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth, is about 20% toward its goal. Some preliminary findings:
- Stricter policies are associated with better teacher-reported outcomes. Strict storage rules, such as requiring students to leave phones in hallway lockers or using Yondr pouches, are associated with better outcomes.
- Bell-to-bell bans are more common in elementary and middle schools than in high schools. Only 1 in 4 high schools opted for the outright bans as opposed to 3 in 4 elementary and middle schools
- The most common storage policy is the “no-show” policy. Nearly half of the schools in the survey have the no-show policy, in which students are allowed to carry their phones in their backpacks or back pockets, but must keep them out of sight. However, results show this policy does not perform as well as more restrictive rules.
Duckworth says two patterns are emerging from early returns:
“The stricter the policy, the happier the teacher and the less likely the students are to be using their cell phones when they aren’t supposed to. For example, “bell-to-bell” (also called away for the day) policies are linked to more focused classrooms. We’re also finding that focus on academics is higher in schools that do not permit students to keep their phones nearby, including in their backpacks or back pockets. Our team looks forward to diving deeper and in longitudinal analysis, establishing how changes in policies over time predict changes in outcomes like attendance and academic performance.”
