The Pa. House voted to ban cell phones in schools, bringing the bill one step closer to law
The measure passed by the House would require all Pennsylvania schools to ban cell phones from the start of the school day to the end. Gov. Shapiro has voiced support for a ban.
A ban on cell phones in Pennsylvania schools is one step closer to becoming law, after House lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that would require all schools to bar students from using phones throughout the school day.
The bill, which passed the Democratic-led House 141-62, now heads to the Republican-led Senate for final approval. Republicans who control the Senate did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
“Our children are being held captive by Big Tech,” said Rep. Mandy Steele (D., Allegheny). “This is a massive public health crisis, the likes of which we have never seen.”
Citing declining test scores and rising mental health issues among young people, Steele said, “The absolute bare minimum we can do is to get these things out of our schools.”
If the bill passes both chambers, it is expected to be signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. The Democratic governor earlier this year urged lawmakers to send a bell-to-bell ban — prohibiting cell phones from the start of the school day to the end — to his desk.
The measure would require both public and private schools to adopt policies starting in the fall of 2027 that bar students from using cell phones during the school day. Schools wouldn’t be required to take phones away from students, but would have to decide how to restrict students from using them.
Students with certain medical conditions and special needs would still be able to use phones.
Rep. Scott Barger (R., Blair/Huntington) voted against the bill because he said phones should be banned for all students, no exceptions.
“If they are as dangerous as you say they are, get them out for everybody, all the time,” Barger said.
The bill comes amid a broader parental backlash to technology in schools, and as school cell phone bans have increasingly become the norm nationally.
Thirty states, including New Jersey, have bell-to-bell bans prohibiting cell phone use at any point during the school day, while another eight bar use during instructional time, according to Education Week.
Shapiro earlier this year called on lawmakers to pass a ban “to get distractions out of the classroom and create a healthier environment in our schools.” The state’s largest teachers union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, has also endorsed a cell phone ban.
But while bans have bipartisan support, they aren’t universally popular. Many area schools restrict cell phones during classes but have hesitated to impose full bell-to-bell bans, with some school leaders expressing concerns about enforcement. Others say students need to learn self-regulation around devices that aren’t going away.
Relatively few schools took the state up on grant money to buy lockable cell phone pouches.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association has opposed a bell-to-bell ban, saying that most of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts already have policies in place related to cell phone use.
The Senate has already passed a version of the bill, but both houses have to agree on a version in order for it to move forward.
PA Unplugged, a statewide group with about 5,000 supporters, said both bills are similar.
“We are imploring the PA Senate to finalize either bill, which both establish statewide standards for proven bell-to-bell policies, in their few remaining days this session in order to protect our kids, our teachers, and our schools,” the parent-led group said in a statement.
Noting bipartisan support, the group called on legislators to “promptly act to set strong regulations establishing overdue safeguards around these products and platforms with algorithms driving dangerous, addictive content that is manipulating and harming our kids.”
Staff writers Gillian McGoldrick and Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.
