Your students are one step closer to being unable to access their cell phones in the classroom after the Wisconsin Assembly vote on Thursday. Assembly Bill 2, authored by Rep. Joel Kitchens, would require school districts to write their own policy banning cell phones and decide how to enforce it.  The bill includes laptops and other smart devices not being used for instructional purposes. There are also exemptions for cases of emergency and medical condition monitoring. After introducing the bill in January, Kitchens said that phones have become a distraction inside the classroom and a cause for mental health concerns outside of it.

The bill now heads to the Wisconsin State Senate. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 70 percent of American teachers consider cell phone distractions an issue in the classroom. Wisconsin is not the only state considering banning cell phone usage in the classroom. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker proposed a similar statewide ban on cellphones in the classroom on Wednesday, joining over 15 states weighing their own legislation.