Students can still use traditional flip phones, and will have exemptions for medical devices and other school-sanctioned tech, under legislation Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
During a press conference held at Waverly High School, part of the Waverly Community Schools district near Lansing, Whitmer called cellphones “by far the most destructive, disruptive distraction in our classrooms.”
“Nearly half of our kids spend five hours a day or more on their phones,” she said. “For 35 hours a week, it’s almost a full time job ... Students should be focusing on the most important job they have, which is learning.”
Whitmer also addressed students directly.
“I know that change isn’t easy, and some of you may not be real thrilled with me right now,” she said. “But I know that if this helps you break your dependency on your phone, or it helps improve your mental health or lengthen your attention span, it’s worth it.”
Carcia Young, a math educator at Waverly High School, described it as not about punishment, or taking something away, but about “protecting the learning environment so students can focus on what matters most.”
The change has been a top priority of Whitmer’s for around a year now, after she called for the ban during her 2025 State of the State Address.
The law has been signed just weeks before her 2026 address, after it received widespread bipartisan support in both legislative chambers.
House Bill 4141, the main bill in the package, amends the Revised School Code to mandate that school districts establish a wireless communications device policy to ban the use of cellphones on school grounds during instructional time.
How policies are enforced is largely left up to individual districts and public academies, according to the bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills.
Senate Bill 495, sponsored by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, requires districts also have protocols for when and how students are permitted to use cellphones during emergency situations.
Both bills reflect the minimum standard schools must enact, but districts can implement more strict policies when they choose.
It’s not clear how many Michigan school districts already have bans in place. The state Department of Education has not previously identified a number.
Plenty of individual policies are already in motion at schools across the state, however, while officials test out what’s needed to keep phones out of students’ hands during class.
Lawmakers, teachers and school leaders have emphasized the benefits of cellphone restrictions for limiting distractions in class and opening students up more socially.
Ann Arbor Public Schools has begun piloting cellphone restrictions for at least one high school’s population, while parents have called for a full-day cellphone ban.
At Northview Public Schools in Grand Rapids, high school students use bags made from conductive materials like copper and aluminum that block wireless cellphone signalswhile in class.
Northview High School Assistant Principal Brent Dickerson, who spoke with MLive in 2024 about the initiative, said teachers saw fast increases to in-class dialogue and assignment completion after implementing the change.
At Avondale Middle School in Auburn Hills, Superintendent James Schwarz said data has shown a cellphone ban increased student engagement, participation in class and student achievement.
According to the district, issues with fighting went from 22 incidents in fall 2022 to seven the following year after the policy. Phone violations also decreased from 124 to 61.
“It also has had a substantive impact on decreasing discipline issues and cyber bullying,” Schwarz said. “In addition, the ban has increased students’ socialization skills, and ability to interact verbally with confidence.”
Young said after her Waverly High School building implemented a cellphone ban during instructional time, she witnessed a “powerful” change among her students. Some of them have even noticed their own attention spans improving after putting their phones away.
“When students realize themselves that their devices are a barrier, that speaks volumes,” she said. “Last year, I asked my ninth graders to leave advice for incoming students. A common message appeared again and again. Pay attention, stay engaged and stay off your devices.”
Tisdel recommended districts use comprehensive toolkits available through institutions like Stanford University, with resources like sample letters to introduce policies to parents and potential penalties that could be applied if violated.
The state House voted to approve Tisdel’s bill during its first session of 2026, with the state Senate following suit the same month. After one more state House vote on Polehanki’s bill, both were sent to Whitmer’s desk.
Tisdel’s first iteration of the legislation was drafted in June 2023, and the measure has previously failed to reach full bipartisan support.
Since then, Tisdel said he’s talked to “an awful lot” of administrators, principals, teachers, parents and other legislators about the proposed ban.
“It takes a lot of people,” Tisdel said, “and it takes a lot of time and effort and patience and a willingness to work together.”
“I think we’ve come [up] with a very good bill,” he said.
Despite requiring school districts statewide to implement restriction policies, HB 4141 would allow exemptions for things like medically-necessary devices, as well as school-issued technology like tables or laptops used for instruction and special education programs.
Some groups that initially opposed the bill, like the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), got on board after updates providing exemptions for students with disabilities and medical devices.
Children are also still able to take a “basic phone” like a flip phone to school, which Tisdel would address parent concerns about losing contact with their child.
“It’s the smartphone where the prohibitions and restrictions apply because the smartphones are a distraction,” Tisdel said during an interview with MLive in January.
Although the bills would take effect during the 2026-27 school year, it could be a while before more long-term benefits of distraction-free classrooms — like improved state assessment scores — manifest in statewide datasets used to track student growth.
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