SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would ban cell phones from classrooms all over the state has won support from the Senate Education Committee.
Lawmakers voted unanimously on Tuesday to support Senate Bill 178 after a public hearing that saw supporters and opponents turn out to speak on it.
"Cell phones are really disruptive in the classroom and incredibly disruptive to how children’s brains function when they spend most of the day not just looking at their cell phone but feeling their cell phone prompt them to do something," said SB178's sponsor, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan.
FOX 13 News first reported on the bill as it was being drafted last year.
The bill would prohibit cell phones from being out during classroom instruction across the state. Currently, some local school districts have policies restricting cell phone use — but not all of them. School boards would be free to adopt policies that are more or less restrictive, but Sen. Fillmore said a ban would be the default.
The bill has exceptions, allowing students to use their phones in the hallways between classes, at recess or lunch. There are also provisions for medical needs and an emergency.
"We believe that passing this bill is of utmost importance," said Kristin Andrus of The Policy Project, an advocacy group that has pushed the bill in the Utah State Legislature.
Supporters of the bill described distracted kids in classrooms, making it hard for them to focus on learning. Andrus said her group's research found that with cell phone bans, instances of bullying in schools declined significantly.
Some high school students testified in support of them. One said she was initially opposed to the bill until her class banned phones and she noticed she was able to do better academically.
But the adults in the room had mixed opinions.
"When you think of the only 80 to 86 minutes that students have in the classroom and you think about the amount of notifications, you lose a significant amount of time of classroom engagement, important instructions, which is only going to impact student learning," said Jen Christensen, the principal of Olympus High School, who testified in support of the bill.
Dr. Sarah Coyne, who is researching media impact on children at Brigham Young University, urged a little restraint.
"I would just like a little more caution, to maybe wait for policy decisions to be made until we have research specific to Utah students," she said.
Monica Wilbur testified against the bill, describing it as "globalist in nature."
"This bill turns a phone into contraband and presumes the guilt of a student who uses one in school," she told the committee.
But lawmakers were overall impressed with the legislation. Politically, the bill has a lot of support from Governor Spencer Cox and Senate leadership. Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, a teacher in her day job, jokingly asked if it could be expanded to cover parent-teacher conferences so that adults would pay attention, too.
"I'm really gratified at the level of support from students, and teachers and parents and community leaders," Sen. Fillmore told FOX 13 News following the vote. "It’s been really great working on this over the past year to land on the right policy for kids and the state of Utah."
