The law, outlined in Senate Bill 139, went into effect this school year. It prohibits student use of personal electronic devices, including cellphones and smart watches, for the entire school day.
All public schools in Oklahoma are required to follow the law this school year. After the one-year ban, local school boards can decide whether to continue or move to something else.
Judging from reaction locally and across the state, it would appear school leaders are going to favor continuation of the policy.
Locally, school officials have reported students being more engaged in class, more engaged with each other.
The authors of the legislation, Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, and Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, held an interim study recently on whether other technology, Chromebooks, should be limited in schools. No decisions were reached, but both said they were happy with how the cellphone ban has gone.
“Just the stories we’ve heard from our educators about the laughter and the conversation that is filling our hallways and our lunchrooms, I think that’s exciting,” he said. “And you take a look at increased learning opportunities and a decrease in behavioral issues, I mean, that is a true win-win. I think it’s a very simple change, but it’s one that’s really having a profound impact on our kids.”
We don’t have a crystal ball, so we can’t say with 100 percent certainty what the future holds. But, we can say the results so far are encouraging.
© 2025 the Enid News & Eagle (Enid, Okla.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
