A Kentucky state legislator predicts there likely will be new bills introduced in the 2025 General Assembly regulating students’ use of cell phones in Kentucky schools.
State Sen. Steve West, co-chair of the Joint Interim Committee on Education, on Friday heard testimony on the effects of social media and cell phones on K-12 students.
“With the testimony we received yesterday and other information, it is clear that cell phones in classrooms lead to: Distraction from learning, increased discipline issues, more bullying, more depression and mental health problems. Once cell phones are removed, there appears to be a positive change in all these areas,” the Paris Republican told the Herald-Leader Saturday.
Bourbon County Schools’ Superintendent Larry Joe Begley, whose district banned cell phones from classrooms in May, told lawmakers on the Education Committee that perhaps there hasn’t been stronger laws on school cell phone limits because of pushback from students and parents who want to communicate throughout the day.
However, “the opposition is not as many as you think it is,” Begley said.
Bourbon County students put their phones in a pouch in each classroom and check them in and out so they can communicate with their parents during class changes.
West, who told the Herald-Leader Saturday he expects one or more bills to be filed, said he doesn’t know what the final result will be, when legislation is proposed, “but lockers are an option.”
He said many parents support the policy, though those who oppose it may be a little louder publicly.
Morgan Adkins, principal of Bourbon County High School, told lawmakers that prior to the new policy, individual teachers decided whether students could use cell phones in classrooms. The uniform policy had improved the school climate, he said.
Adkins said discipline problems had improved and there was more focus on academics. He said school staff had not experienced the student opposition that he had anticipated.
Students, he said, say they are more engaged in the classrooms. Adkins said there was less cyberbullying.
After speaking to lawmakers, Zach Rausch, Associate Research Scientist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, told the Herald-Leader in an email that he had three key messages for Kentucky lawmakers:
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.Legislators have a crucial opportunity to address the crisis of disrupted learning, inattention and rising student loneliness and anxiety that has afflicted schools since the early 2010s. By supporting districts across the state in implementing phone-free policies from bell-to-bell, they can provide teachers and students a common-sense solution to foster connection, learning and healthy relationships.
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Social media companies are harming teens on an industrial scale, as revealed by their own internal documents and research, Rausch said. Major platforms popular with young people—TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat—are fundamentally unsuitable for children, he said.
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Many parents and teens feel trapped. No teen wants to be the only one without a smartphone and social media access, and no parent wants their child to feel isolated. As a result, parents continue to give devices at younger ages, and teens spend more and more time online—even if they’d rather not. Legislators have the power to break this cycle and support families in giving the kind of childhood parents want to give their children and that kids deserve, he said.
