Keiki may be prohibited by law to use their cellphones at school under a series of bills being discussed in the state Legislature.
Five similar bills — House bills 298, 458, 1195 and 1224, and Senate Bill 684 — each propose that the state Department of Education limit or prohibit the use of cellphones by students during the school day.
The bills vary somewhat in scope. HB 458 would establish a statewide DOE policy about cellphones that would set guidelines for when, how and by whom they can be used at school, although the exact terms of that policy would be specified by the department after the bill passes.
SB 684, meanwhile, merely calls for the state Board of Education to adopt rules prohibiting cellphone usage in DOE schools.
The other three bills, however, each lay out similar terms: Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, students would be prohibited from using cellphones during the school day either on-campus or off-campus at a school-related event. If students bring a cellphone to the school, it would be required to be turned off and stowed for the duration of the school day.
Those three bills — HB 298, 1195 and 1124 — also would prohibit accessing social media sites via a school’s internet network, save for “when expressly directed by a teacher solely for educational purposes.”
The DOE would also be required to establish a comprehensive education program about social media for grades six through 12. The curriculum would cover subjects such as the negative effects of social media on mental health, the distribution of misinformation on social media, the permanency of sharing material online, how to maintain personal security and identify predatory behavior online, and more.
Finally, HB 298, 1195 and 1124 clarify that the restriction on phone usage does not apply to students who need to use a phone for health reasons or for their classes.
The text of HB 289 notes that teachers having to direct students’ attention away from phones drastically cuts into educational time, and that excessive use of social media is linked to unhealthy behaviors, poor mental health and declining academic performance.
“These things are designed to be addictive in a way,” said Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen, co-introducer of HB 1195. Younger keiki, she said, have less experience and ability to be able to regulate their own behavior to avoid addiction.
Lowen said she thinks a certain degree of pushback against cellphone usage is healthy, and quipped that “students are not at risk of getting too little screen time.”
Several schools already have implemented similar policies, Lowen said, and these bills would just establish consistency across all DOE facilities. Several of the bills note that other states have passed similar laws, such as in Louisiana and South Carolina, where students must keep their phones stowed throughout the school day.
Dennis O’Brien, principal at Ernest Bowen DeSilva Elementary School in Hilo, said students caught using phones in class have their phones confiscated and placed in the school safe, which is effective enough to prevent rule-breaking.
“A lot of times, these are new phones they got for Christmas or a birthday, and they don’t want to lose them,” O’Brien said, adding that the school also closely monitors its internet usage, although social media sites are not blocked from the network.
O’Brien also acknowledged the issue of cellphone overuse is much less pronounced among elementary school students than in middle or high school.
De Silva Elementary also sends letters to parents regularly advising them to check their children’s internet usage at home.
“If kids are using inappropriate sites, it’s more likely to be happening at home, where they’re less supervised than they are here,” O’Brien said.
So far, none of the bills has been scheduled for a committee hearing.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
