The state of Ohio passed a new law, which will take effect in January. The law will ban the use of cell phones during school time, including anything the state sees as the instructional day.

According to education.ohio.gov, an instructional day is defined as “any period of time in which a student is expected to be in attendance and includes not only formal instruction time but also supervised activities, such as transitioning between classes, recess, meal periods, and field trips.”

However, Andrew Hill, the superintendent of Wadsworth City Schools, believes that Wadsworth’s current phone policy is suitable for the new law. “Our board discussed the revised language and law at their meeting earlier this month, and we believe that based on the way the law is written, our current policy applies,” Hill said.

The current policy at Wadsworth allows students to use their phones during lunch periods and in class time with teacher permission. This seems like it would go against what the state said; however, the state does not consider lunch to be instructional time.

“Lunch is not part of what the state considers as your instruction hours in a day, so allowing phones to continue to be used during lunchtime is something that is compliant with the new law,” Hill said.

The ability for a teacher to allow the students in the classroom to use cell phones with permission for educational purposes will not change either. This is due to the law listing “student learning” as an exception to phone usage.

Wadsworth High School principal Vincent Suber also believes in the security of the phone policy that the high school has in place.

“I don’t see that [disciplinary action] changing at all. But again, we have a lot of kids that do a really nice job, and parents are very supportive,” Suber said.

The law will also take into consideration a student’s 504 plan, monitoring or addressing health issues like diabetes and if the student has a disability that requires the device, allowing them to keep their electronics. Under the law, students would also be allowed to use their phones to report an active threat to others and or the building.

The law does not just list smartphones as a concern. Smartwatches and any other battery-powered communication devices are seen as items that a school should prohibit students from using.

“The phone ban incorporated at the moment is effective, arguably beneficial, but to an extent,” Junior, Annabelle Hancock said. “It shouldn’t get to the point where we cannot have our phones at anytime of the day. Overly restricting us [students] isn’t going to solve the problem,”
Handcock belives that their are bigger problems in schools and education that should be prioritized rather than students screen time.
Over time, this law may change as research comes out. According to education.ohio.gov, 34 states and Washington, D.C, have similar laws in place for phone use in schools.