PENNSYLVANIA (WBNG) — The Pennsylvania legislature has passed SB1014, the bell-to-bell phone-free schools bill.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has said he will sign the measure into law.
“I called for this in my Budget Address and repeatedly urged the legislature to act — and now, we’ve brought Democrats and Republicans together to get this done for our students and our educators,” Shapiro said in a Facebook post. “It’s time to get back to the basics in school and let our kids be kids.”
With his signature, Pennsylvania will become the 25th state with a full-day phone-free schools law. That milestone means half the states will now keep phones out of schools from the first bell to the last.
PA Unplugged thanked the bipartisan group of lawmakers who advanced the bill. The nonpartisan coalition of parents, caregivers, educators, medical providers and mental health professionals has long supported a school day without addictive devices and harmful algorithms.
“Students are bombarded with notifications all day long. This constant access also opens the door to social media, gambling apps, and cyberbullying during the school day,” said Kristen Beddard, co-lead of PA Unplugged.
School boards will then create their own implementation plans for districts and buildings starting in the 2027-28 school year, according to PA Unplugged. The organization says it has research and best-practice resources to help schools choose an approach.
“For too long, access to a phone-free school day depended on which school a student attended,” said Alex Bird Becker, co-lead of PA Unplugged. “Once this law takes effect, every student in the Commonwealth will have freedom from addictive algorithms, from the first bell to the last.”
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