Throughout the past couple of months, numerous states in the nation have been putting restrictions on teens having personal electronic devices, more specifically smartphones and having them during the school day to improve focus, reduce distractions and create a healthier environment.

Public schools argue that not having cellphones can help benefit students by increasing both their focus throughout the day as well as improving their mental health. Since there are already many concerns about teenagers’ mental health and how smartphones impact their mental heatlh, many schools advocate for the idea of completely taking phones out of school campuses. Currently, the Senate of the State of Massachusetts is discussing this legislation and how it will affect schools and students in the following school year.

“We’ve heard a lot of support for this legislation because so many people recognize that cellphones in schools are a major distraction from student learning and student mental health,” the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, Jason Lewis said to Boston 25 News.

In July, the statewide ban on cellphones in public schools in Massachusetts became a reality as members from the state Senate approved legislation that would put this restriction in place, however, the ban must still go though the House of Representatives to be put in place as a law. The universal cellphone ban would be put in place at the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year. These policies would include a “bell-to-bell” ban on student access to their personal devices during the school day, meaning that guardians and students will only be allowed to contact each other during the day if there is a permissible reason. 

The bill defines a personal electronic device such as phones, tablets, smartwatches or as any portable electronic device  capable of providing communication between other devices or connecting to an electronic device, the internet, or Wi-Fi network.

For the most part, the bill is supported by many schools around Massachusetts to attempt at making schools around the nation a more healthier environment and improve the overall performance of the students.