The findings announced Monday come from a group of child well-being and safety organizations: The Anxious Generation Movement, Smartphone Free Childhood US, Institute for Families and Technology, and Becca Schmill Foundation. The report analyzes whether states have policies in place demanding that students store their phones from bell to bell.
Rather than pushing for phone-free schools, Washington lawmakers this year adopted the bipartisan Senate Bill 5346 that aims to help school districts enact phone policies tailored to their community’s needs by 2030. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill, which directs the state superintendent to submit a report with best-practices recommendations by mid-December 2027, into law last month.
Report card project lead Lina Nealon, director of strategic partnerships for the Institute of Families and Technology, said students need relief from the harm and distractions that phones cause before 2030.
The way Nealon sees it, Washington is “ignoring” evidence showing the benefits of taking phones out of the picture for the entire school day.
“The time for a study has passed,” she said in a news release.
SB 5346’s prime sponsor, Sen. Marko Liias, told McClatchy in an email that his bill represents the “bare minimum of what we should be doing” to restrict public-school cellphone use.
Although the Edmonds Democrat would have liked to have taken bolder steps this year, he argued it’s important to recognize that phone policies should suit each individual district.
“My bill sets us on a steady path to help every district that does not yet have a bell-to-bell cellphone policy implement one that meets their community’s needs by 2030,” Liias continued. “Until then, I will continue working with advocates, students, families, and educational leaders across the state to empower our school districts to get these devices out of the classroom.”
Other states in the new “Phone-Free Schools State Report Card” that received an “F” include South Dakota, Connecticut and Mississippi. Among those getting “A” grades for having policies requiring personal devices to be fully secured all day: Indiana, Kansas and North Dakota.
Most school districts in Washington have already adopted cellphone rules, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. More than half with policies in place ahead of the school year reported to OSPI that they would be limiting smart-device access just during instructional time. Nearly a third required the devices to be stowed throughout the day.
North Thurston Public Schools, for instance, features an “off and away all day” rule across its campuses.
Cellphone use has impeded students’ mental health and ability to focus in school, according to the National Education Association. Eighty-three percent of NEA members back barring such devices throughout the school day, and nine in 10 members support prohibition amid instructional time.
During a January public hearing on his bill, Liias said that smartphones are detracting, distracting and holding students back. Still, with 295 school districts, it’s a nuanced issue, he said.
Some students rely on their phones as calculators or as their blood-sugar monitor, he said. Certain teachers want to help students learn how to best use their device.
It isn’t practical to write a one-size-fits-all policy, Liias said during the hearing.
“But what we can do as a Legislature is create the vision and say, ‘We want device-free schools in Washington, and let’s get data, and let’s find out what our districts are doing, and let’s make sure that our school boards have the best available information,’” he said.
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