Florida floats stricter cellphone ban for students
- GAB NEWS
- Aug 31
- 3 min read
Since Florida passed the first ban, more than a dozen states have enacted similar laws aiming to crack down on students being plugged in during school hours.
By ANDREW ATTERBURY03/11/2025 12:59 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Students across Florida could be required to put their cellphones away for essentially the entire school day — not just during instruction time — under a new bill introduced Tuesday.
The legislation, FL HB949 (25R), would build on Florida’s 2023 law that was the first in the nation to curb student cellphone use by outlawing the devices while teachers are leading lessons, unless used for educational purposes. This measure would take that further by calling on school districts to ban cellphones from bell-to-bell, outside of specific designated areas on campus.7
Since Florida passed the first school cellphone ban, more than a dozen states, red and blue alike, have enacted similar laws aiming to crack down on students being plugged in during school hours. At least four states — Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and South Carolina — now have bell-to-bell restrictions like those pursued by the Florida House.
“We’re really strengthening this and giving teachers and parents kind of that extra push that they’re going to need,” said state Rep. Fabián Basabe (R-Miami Beach). “It’s really hard to tell a kid, ‘Hey, we need to take your phone away.’ But when you say it’s the law, it just kind of ends the conversation there.”
State House lawmakers, who unanimously advanced the bill in the Education Administration Subcommittee, contend stiffer school cellphone restrictions will improve student performance by keeping them focused and engaged on lessons. At the same time, they argue it can reduce cases of students being cyberbullied and using social media at school.
At least one Florida school district, Orange County Public Schools, has gone beyond state law by already prohibiting cellphones all day, even during lunch and passing periods. While the idea appeared daunting at first for large campuses, school leaders say the reaction from parents and discipline results have been positive.
At Timber Creek High School, for example, staff confiscated more than 100 cellphones a day when the policy started, compared to taking up roughly 10 to 15 on the average day now, according to principal Marc Wasko.
“We were quite nervous,” Wasko told state House lawmakers during a Jan. 15 panel discussion. “It was surprisingly and shockingly pretty easy to implement.”
Florida’s current law leaves it up to school districts and campuses to implement the cellphone ban. In some cases, teachers have cubbies or pouches for students to leave the phones in during instruction, or they can otherwise be instructed to leave the devices in a bag or pocket. The state House proposal wouldn’t change that, but it would give school administrators the ability to pick certain areas on campus for students to use cellphones.
While the bill scored bipartisan support, there are some concerns about how parents could contact children during an emergency or otherwise get information to them at school. But for lawmakers, the possible benefit appears to outweigh that issue.
“When we were all in school, we didn’t have phones,” said state Rep. Demi Cabrera (R-Coral Gables), who sponsored the legislation. “And our parents managed to get a hold of us by calling the front office and we’d go … and use the phone, or they’d get a message to us. We figured it out and we can continue to do that.”
Despite the initial approval from state House members, the stricter cellphone ban currently lacks a companion bill in the state Senate.
Instead, the Senate has proposed legislation, FL SB1296 (25R), asking the state Department of Education to coordinate with six school districts to study bell-to-bell restrictions. The state would be compelled to develop a model policy for implementing the wide-ranging ban, taking into account how it could be applied to students with disabilities who may need electronic devices for curriculum, and how cellphones may be necessary for health reasons or emergencies.
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