ATLANTA — In a full floor vote on Tuesday, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a ban on students having cellphones, tablets and other devices while in school.
The Distraction-Free Education Act passed the House with broad support across both political parties, with 143 votes in favor and just 29 opposed.
As Channel 2 Action News has reported, lawmakers and district personnel from across Georgia have been discussing a statewide ban on allowing students to have cell phones and other electronics while in class.
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Now approved by Georgia’s House members, the legislation will make its way through the Georgia Senate.
Should the bill pass in the Senate, without changes requiring House approval, it’ll head to the governor’s desk for a signature.
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If Gov. Brian Kemp signs off on it, House Bill 340 would keep students from having access to their phones in kindergarten to eighth grade, though some exceptions provided for by law would allow limited use.
In terms of when students would have their phone access restricted, the bill said that phones would be off-limits during bell-to-bell time periods.
Those periods are defined in the legislation as “the period beginning with the first bell signaling the start of instructional time and ending with the final bell signaling the conclusion of the school day and shall include all scheduled instructional time, breaks, transitions, assemblies, and other school-related activities occurring between the start and end of the school day.”
If passed, the bill would take effect by Jan. 1, 2026 for all public school students in the state’s K-8 classes.
School districts would have to draft policies for the bill’s provisions by Aug. 1 if the bill becomes law.
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