New Phone Policy Creates Waves

Story & Graphic by Malaykah Mbeche – Staff Reporter

  The phone ban. People like it, people hate it. This summer, the state passed “the phone ban,” which is Senate Bill 68. This law mandates school districts to establish policies banning student cell phone use from the start to the end of the school day, with exceptions for emergencies and teacher-directed instruction. The law was signed by Governor Mike Kehoe in July and began implementation with the start of the 2025-26 school year. Senate Bill 68 is a state law that applies to all public school districts in Missouri, and each school district is required to create its own policy to implement the state mandate. 

   Students have had mixed feelings about Senate Bill 68.

   “I didn’t use my phone during class much, so it didn’t change anything, but for classes like yearbook and broadcasting, it’s hard…we need them for things like that,” Jackson Reed, senior, said.

   Students being distracted from their school work due to checking their cellphones has dramatically reduced.

   “It’s not much different than last year…I feel it just depends on how students have been behaving, so if they’re working in classes, then probably using their phones in passing period wouldn’t make much of a difference,” Jane Mbeche, freshman, said.

   Students’ perspectives are very important, but faculty perspectives should be taken into consideration as well.

   “From the qualitative perspective, I believe the new law (not a ban) helps to reduce distractions within our learning environment,” Tim Collins, Principal, said. 

   Even though faculty agrees with the policy, there are some elements they disagree with.    “I felt our policy last year of no cell phones in classrooms sufficiently addressed this…Personally, I felt giving high school students an opportunity to be on their phones during lunch and passing was just fine, but our state legislature felt differently,” Collins said.

   Even though it may not be something that everyone loves, Senate Bill 68 is helpful for students’ grades and performance.