Amended legislation to ban K-12 students’ use of cell phones during the school day are expected to advance in the Alabama Legislature this week.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 92 last week and it moves to the House Education Policy Committee, where it’s on the agenda Wednesday. The House has already approved the same bill with recent changes.
The legislation by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, and Rep. Leigh Hulsey, R- Helena, says that starting with the 2025-2026 school year, no student can use a wireless communication device in any public elementary or secondary school building or on school grounds during the school day.
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There are exceptions for some students with special needs, cell phone use under the supervision of school staff and in life-threatening emergencies.
As originally written, the bill allowed for no more than 10 minutes of cell phone use during the school day, per policy set individual systems. That has been removed in newer versions. So was an earlier addition that would have put some classroom funding at risk if schools didn’t comply with portions of the act. An annual survey of teachers about the implementation of the law remains in the legislation.
Similar measures
Bans on student cell phone use are gaining traction nationwide. Lawmakers in eight states, including Florida and California, have passed similar measures and 15 more states are considering them.
Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, tried to amend the bill to allow students to communicate via their cell phones with their parents or guardians. Chesteen said allowing that communication would be too cumbersome. His fellow senators agreed.
“When a kid comes to school and puts their phone in a storage device or whatever the school has, it would just be too hard to allow (communications with parents), that’s why we took the 10 minutes out as well in the original bill,” Chesteen explained to Alabama Daily News.
The bill also says the state department of education will develop and approve a digitally delivered course that addresses the risks of using social media and how to use social media safely.
Gov. Kay Ivey endorsed the legislation in her Feb. 4 State of the State address, urging lawmakers to pass the bill.
“Let’s create the best learning environment for our students and get this bill to my desk so I can sign it into law,” Ivey said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mary Sell and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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