{"id":1784,"date":"2026-06-15T21:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:08:22","slug":"utahs-new-school-cellphone-prohibition-is-days-away-from-becoming-law-but-will-it-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1784","title":{"rendered":"Utah\u2019s new school cellphone prohibition is days away from becoming law \u2014 but will it succeed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>New Utah law prohibiting K-12 students from having cellphones during school hours will soon take effect.<\/li>\n<li>Local schools and districts have the option to modify the default policy.<\/li>\n<li>Recent national study suggests bell-to-bell school cellphone bans are yielding mixed results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If teen fashion mavens prove prescient, Utah high schoolers will be returning to class in August wearing elevated athleisure, retro sneakers and what influencers are dubbing \u201cY2K nostalgia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1782\">Senior Latter-day Saint leader calls religious freedom \u2018the cornerstone of peace in a world with many competing philosophies\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s what Utah teens won\u2019t be accessorizing with at school: a new iPhone 17 \u2014 or, for that matter, any cellphone.<\/p>\n<p>An enhanced law goes into effect on July 1 that essentially prohibits cellphones at Utah\u2019s K-12 public schools, unless a school or district opts for a looser policy.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, the 2026 Utah Legislature passed a bill enhancing the state\u2019s current default school cellphone policy by restricting cellphones in school from opening bell to closing bell. <\/p>\n<p>In 2025, lawmakers passed a bill banning cellphones during class time \u2014 while, again, allowing schools or districts to opt for a different standard. But many lawmakers, educators and even students \u2014 along with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox \u2014 argued the limited cellphone prohibition didn\u2019t go far enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am convinced, more than ever, that a \u2018bell-to-bell\u2019 cellphone ban is the single most important thing that we can do for our students in our schools today,\u201d said Cox prior to the 2026 legislative session.<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s not alone in his \u201cschool\/cellphones\u201d animus. <\/p>\n<p>As reported by The Associated Press, a 2024  found that about 1 in 3 teachers consider students distracted by cellphones \u201ca major problem.\u201d Among high school teachers, that figure rises sharply, to 72%. <\/p>\n<p>More recently, Pew researchers found that 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning cellphones during class for middle and high school students, up from 68% last fall.<\/p>\n<p>Cox and others Utahns were granted their bell-to-bell wish by the 2026 Legislature, but only time will tell if the state\u2019s fast-approaching cellphone prohibition will result in higher test scores, less absenteeism and more student engagement across the state\u2019s K-12 schools.<\/p>\n<h3>Study: School cellphone bans yielding mixed results <\/h3>\n<p>Meanwhile,  and authored by scholars from several prestigious institutions \u2014 including Stanford University, Duke University and the University of Michigan \u2014 indicate school bell-to-bell cellphone bans are yielding mixed outcomes, at least in their early stages.<\/p>\n<p>The national study looked at school cellphone prohibitions, examining data from about 4,600 schools.<\/p>\n<p>The analysis focused on a well-defined cellphone intervention \u2014 lockable phone pouches designed to limit students\u2019 access to their phones during the school day. Nearly 5,000 American schools were reportedly using such pouches in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>No surprise, the pouch system works if the primary aim is to keep phones out of school. Cellphone access and use during the school day dropped significantly, noted the study.<\/p>\n<p>But of greater interest are the study\u2019s findings regarding student behavior outcomes, academic achievement and other impacts to school environment, such as attendance.<\/p>\n<h3>What are the early results regarding student discipline, academic performance?<\/h3>\n<p>If the measured results from the national study extend to Utah in the coming year, the state\u2019s schools could expect a few mild bumps during the policy rollout \u2014 at least initially.<\/p>\n<p>Disciplinary \u201cincidents\u201d increased slightly in the first year of cellphone bans, the study noted \u2014 but added \u201cthis effect fades in subsequent years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, student-reported well-being declined in the first year of bell-to-bell cellphone restrictions before rebounding, becoming \u201cpositive\u201d by the second year of policy adoption.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding bell-to-bell cellphone bans and academic achievement, the average effects on test scores reported in the study are \u201cclose to zero\u201d over the first three years following adoption.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn high schools, we find modest positive effects \u2014 particularly in math,\u201d the report noted. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1780\">Celebrating 5 years of Wordle<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the middle school academic effects, albeit small, were generally negative.<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s authors also found little evidence that restricting phone access is improving other aspects of the school environment. Effects on the attendance rate, for example, were close to zero. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe find similarly precise and small effects for chronic absenteeism and no measurable improvements for perceived online bullying or self-reported classroom attention,\u201d noted the study authors.<\/p>\n<h3>So what\u2019s behind the varied cellphone ban study results?<\/h3>\n<p>Several plausible mechanisms could explain the study findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe increase in disciplinary incidents may reflect the enforcement of new phone restrictions,\u201d according to the study. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlternatively, students may substitute from phones to other disruptive behaviors, including peer interactions that could lead to more disciplinary incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the differences in test scores between high schools and middle schools may come down to simple maturity. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYounger students may have more limited impulse control, making them more likely to substitute toward other disruptive behaviors when phones are removed,\u201d the study speculated. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferences in the magnitude of phone use reductions may also contribute: in our data, phone activity declines more in high schools than in middle schools, so middle schools may bear the costs of introducing and enforcing the restriction while generating smaller benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>School\/cellphone national study: Acknowledging shortcomings<\/h3>\n<p>The authors of the study cautioned its various outcome measures capture only limited elements of student performance and school environments. And most cellphone restriction policies are still in early implementation stages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile test scores and validated survey instruments are widely used in the education literature, they may not reflect all potential effects of phone restrictions,\u201d according to the study. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecond, because restrictions have expanded only recently, we observe outcomes for at most three years beyond adoption; longer-run effects remain an open question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study tracked three cohorts of schools, which adopted phone bans in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Dee, a Stanford economist who co-led the study, told The Associated Press that the early stage results are \u201csobering\u201d and \u201csomewhat disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But he added that as schools keep their bans in place, indicators like student well-being and suspension rates improve. In the first year of the phone bans, students\u2019 self-reported well-being dropped substantially, as disciplinary rates rose, Dee said. \u201cBut within three years, students\u2019 well-being is actually above what it was at baseline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dee also noted in the Associated Press report that the newest cohorts have actually seen test scores rise in a short time.<\/p>\n<p>Dee\u2019s not sure why, but offers a theory: \u201cThe entire social context around which we understand phone bans may be changing. I think people are much more likely to see phone bans in a beneficent light now, as something that\u2019s meant to help us rather than constrain us, even relative to several years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And don\u2019t forget, Dee added, the study findings offer glimpses into the infancy of school cellphone prohibitions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI firmly believe that getting student phone use down, recapturing their attention in classrooms within schools, is a critical antecedent to realizing their academic potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1778\">Utah Supreme Court nominee faces tough questioning about his residency<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Beehive State&#8217;s enhanced school cellphone default policy is happening as similar laws are launched nationwide \u2014 and early results appear mixed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Utah\u2019s new school cellphone prohibition is days away from becoming law \u2014 but will it succeed? 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