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HARRISBURG, PA (Oct. 21, 2025) — The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) supports legislation requiring public schools to adopt policies that prohibit students (with limited exceptions) from using their smartphones and other internet-connected devices during the school day, PSEA President Aaron Chapin will testify before the state Senate Education Committee today.

The hearing, which begins at 10 a.m. in the North Office Building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol, will focus on Senate Bill 1014, sponsored by Sens. Devlin Robinson, Vincent Hughes, and Steve Santarsiero. SB 1014 would ban cellphones and mobile devices bell-to-bell in Pennsylvania public schools. The hearing will be livestreamed.

In his written testimony, Chapin says that mobile devices disrupt students from learning, facilitate cyberbullying, and are a contributing factor to student mental health issues.

“Our country has a youth mental health crisis,” Chapin says in his testimony. “Smartphones are, of course, not the only factor driving this crisis, but the precipitous rise in mental health issues — like depression, anxiety, and a lack of emotional regulation — corresponds with young people’s access to mobile devices and social media.

“Mobile devices disrupt students from learning. Think of how many notifications you get in a day and how distracting they can be.”

Chapin also notes that frequent use of mobile devices during the school day isolates students from each other.

“They engage in more peer interaction via texts and apps than in-person interaction,” he says. “They walk down halls with their heads down, staring at screens, rather than actually mingling with classmates and friends.”

Access to mobile devices also facilitates peer-to-peer cyber bullying, Chapin says.

“Children’s brains are still developing, and they can’t always control their worst impulses when they have constant access to a device that can be used to easily relieve frustration or other feelings,” Chapin says.

Principles for a cellphone ban

In his testimony, Chapin says Senate Bill 1014 meets several principles PSEA believes must be part of any cellphone ban put into law:

• School entities should be required to adopt bell-to-bell policies that restrict student possession and prohibit student use of mobile devices during the school day while on school property.
• How possession is restricted should be decided by each individual school entity. The state should not interfere with school districts that have already successfully restricted student possession of mobile devices.
• The definition of “mobile devices” should include any internet-connected personal device, including cellphones, smartphones, various types of smartwatches, and tablets.
• Students, parents, school employees, and local communities should be given an opportunity to provide input before school districts adopt their policies.
• There should be limited exceptions for the use of smartphones during the school day, outside of situations where student possession and use of mobile devices are necessary, such as for students with medical conditions, students with IEPs or 504 plans, and students who are English learners and require translation assistance. PSEA would also support exceptions for limited instructional situations, such as a lesson on the responsible and safe use of technology.
• The policy requirement should begin with the start of a new school year.
• Parents need to be consistently informed about new cellphone policies and their implementation.

Evolving position

In his testimony, Chapin notes that PSEA’s position on legislation banning cellphones and mobile devices in schools has evolved over the past 18 months.

Educators have long wanted cellphones out of classrooms but have had some concerns about whether it was the state’s role to take such legislative action, Chapin says. New research, growing frustration among educators, and the decision of some school districts to adopt cellphone-free policies prompted PSEA to reassess its position and to support Senate Bill 1014.

“With the confluence of a myriad of factors, and as a growing number of states and school districts took more strident action on their own, our members started to believe that Pennsylvania could and should put the genie back in the bottle, as they say,” Chapin says.

Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, aspiring educators, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.