Jeff Amy.

Half of U.S. states now have laws banning or regulating cellphones in schools, with more likely to follow. Florida was the first state to pass a law regulating the use of cellphones in schools in 2023, while Alaska became the 25th on Tuesday. Bills have sprinted through legislatures this year in states as varied as New York and Oklahoma, reflecting a broad consensus that phones are bad for kids. Eight other states and the District of Columbia have rules or recommendations out to local districts. There’s an increasing focus on banning phones throughout the school day. But some states with traditions of local control are mandating only that districts adopt cellphone policies