Sponsors (8)
The bill aims to reduce classroom distractions and produce federal evidence to guide school device policies (while protecting medical-device use), but it limits students' access to personal phones, imposes administrative and financial burdens on schools and districts, and raises equity and privacy trade-offs for families and vulnerable students.
Students experience fewer in-class distractions, which can improve attention and potentially boost learning outcomes.
Teachers and school administrators gain clearer authority and consistent definitions to enforce device-free policies across instructional and non-instructional periods.
The bill requires and funds a national study (with a public report and congressional briefing) to produce evidence within about two years on how mobile device use affects learning and student mental health, informing better school policies and interventions.
Students and parents lose immediate access to personal devices during lunch, passing periods, and other non-instructional times, reducing convenience and raising child-safety/communication concerns.
Schools and districts must secure, store, and manage students' devices (lockers, custody), creating administrative burdens, liability risks, and ongoing operational costs—costs that may exceed available grants and hit small or rural districts hardest.
Excluding school-issued devices or uneven application of policies could create inequities or loopholes that disadvantage low-income students who rely on personal devices for learning outside class.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires a Surgeon General study and funds an ED pilot giving LEAs grants to install secure lockers so schools can keep students' personal mobile devices locked during school hours.
Official title: To direct the Surgeon General to conduct a study regarding the use of mobile devices in elementary and secondary schools, and to establish a pilot program of awarding grants to enable certain schools to create a school environment free of mobile devices.
Introduced February 12, 2025 by Bruce Westerman · Last progress February 12, 2025
Creates a federal study and a small pilot grant program to test keeping personal mobile phones and similar devices secured away during the school day in elementary and secondary schools. The Surgeon General must complete a nationwide study on how mobile device use in schools affects learning, behavior, and mental health within two years; the Department of Education will run a multi-year pilot that gives LEAs grants to buy secure containers/lockers and implement schoolwide "mobile-device-free" environments, with limited exemptions and parent engagement requirements. The program is authorized at $5 million for FY2025–FY2029, with up to 2% of funds available for administration and data collection.