Your kids will have less time to access their phones during the school day if Rep. Joel Kitchens can get signed into law by Governor Tony Evers. Under his bill, school districts across the state would be required to develop a policy effectively banning the use of cell phones, laptops, and other smart devices inside K-12 classrooms unless they are being used for instructional purposes. 

After it was introduced earlier this year, it was passed by the Assembly in February and by the Senate earlier this week. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 70 percent of American teachers consider cell phone distractions an issue in the classroom. Kitchens says while national talking points are nice, he says local districts have also thrown their support behind the effort.

If approved, Wisconsin would join nearly 30 other states that have at least some kind of ban in place with New York and Louisiana having among the strictest. In addition to limiting the distractions in the classroom, a Rand Corporation study also showed that 86 percent of surveyed principals linked cellphone use restriction policies to a positive impact for the school’s climate and a reduction in cyberbullying.