March 24, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET
Students in Monroe County could soon be fully prohibited from using their cellphones during school hours under a new law passed this February in the General Assembly.
Starting next school year, Senate Enrolled Act 78 will require public schools across Indiana to establish a ban on student cellphones, tablets and smartwatches from the start of the school day until dismissal. Monroe County Community School Corporation and Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation currently prohibit cellphone use during class time but allow students to use their devices during lunch and between class periods.
The Senate voted 36-12 in favor of the Republican-led act, with six Democrats and six Republicans opposing. Gov. Mike Braun, who signed the act into law on March 5, said the act will help promote focus and healthy socialization in schools.
“Kids need to learn and grow without the interruption of big tech,” Braun said.
But for a generation native to digital socialization, some local students worry the legislation will limit vital communication between peers and families, ultimately doing “more harm than good.”
“I do think that while phones are a distraction, they are also important for communication with parents or guardians,” said Thomas Seghi, a junior at Bloomington High School North. “I think something could be done to mitigate that, but I’m not too sure if completely restricting is the right way to do it.”
Students worry a total cellphone ban could negatively impact socialization
Cellphone use is ubiquitous among today’s teens. A 2024 Pew Research survey found approximately 95% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 have a smartphone, and almost 75% of teens use some form of social media daily.
Many students at BHSN say that students’ current cellphone use is, indeed, a problem. Too many students use cellphones during class time, they say, and too few teachers are consistent in prohibiting them.
“If the new law is handled strictly, then there is a chance future classes at schools will listen more,” said Marie Estivill-Kilmer, a sophomore at BHSN.
Still, students say cellphones are a key part of how they connect with one another. Phone usage isn’t entirely antisocial; students often play mobile games together or share videos during lunchtime, and more than half of teenagers use the rapid-fire photo-messaging app Snapchat every day, according to Pew Research.
With a total ban on cellphone use in schools, students say covert cellphone use is likely to increase.
“There’s kids like me, where every time I have the urge to take out my phone, I just think, ‘I can probably wait till lunch,’” BHSN junior Christopher Crane said of his school’s current cell phone policies. “But if there’s no phones during lunch, if it’s bell-to-bell, I’ll have the urge to pick up my phone because I don’t want to wait till the end of day.”
‘I think some parents will be really mad’
The new law gives schools the option to either prohibit cellphones from being brought to school entirely, or to establish a “secure storage policy” where phones are stowed away for the day and returned to students at dismissal. The law also carves out exceptions for multi-lingual students using devices for translation or for authorized emergency situations.
MCCSC and RBBCSC both say they plan to update their policies in accordance with the new state guidelines but haven’t made decisions between the two policy options.
But students say a total ban on cellphones being brought to school would make it impossible for parents and students to communicate during emergencies, a major source of anxiety for many families. MCCSC was criticized earlier this year after a server mishap led to parents receiving delayed information about a lockdown situation.
“I think some parents will be really mad since if an emergency happens, they can’t contact their kids,” Crane said.
Seghi says student cellphone use is a “big problem” that needs to be met with more scrutiny and enforcement by teachers. But for a generation that’s grown up with phones as part of their daily lives, he worries that the impacts of Indiana’s across-the-board ban could be severe.
“As rare as they seem to be, there are still bad occurrences at school where communication is important,” Seghi said. “While it sounds good in theory, I think it might introduce new problems that would be difficult to regulate.”
Nash Henry is the Bloomington High School North correspondent for the Herald-Times.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig atbrian@heraldt.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at@brianwritesnews.
