The cellphone bill sponsored by Utah State Senator Lincoln Fillmore and Utah State Representative Douglas R Welton, went into effect July 1, 2025 at all public schools in Utah. This law prohibits students from using cell phones, smart watches, or emerging technology (Bluetooth headphones and ear buds) during the time when students receive scheduled, teacher-supervised instruction.
Basically, students can only have phones out during lunch or in between classes.
After years of schools being left to police phones and come up with policies, the Utah Legislature stepped in and made the banning of phones a state law.
Two months into the ban, reactions are mixed at Highland about its effectiveness.
Some teachers believe that, though phones can be a distraction in the classroom, they also can be used as a tool to enhance student learning if used correctly. Some teachers depended on cell phones for certain aspects of their classes.
“As an AP art teacher, I am a little frustrated with it. We spent years integrating technology into our classrooms and I found ways to do that with personal devices, so I have had to rethink a lot of stuff this year,” Highland art teacher Tear Hunter said.
In an attempt to still meet the AP guidelines, Hunter has been using her personal camera to document students work and progress and upload it to a shared file. Many students in the class must use reference pictures for their art but can no longer use their personal devices to access their camera roll. Students now must do additional work, like putting all their references on a class-shared slideshow, so that everyone can have access, which means more time spent on assignments that wasn’t necessary before the ban.
Other teachers at Highland are also finding new ways to work with the law, but some have no choice but to use a personal device. The law states that a local education agency can create exemptions to the prohibition, so Highland’s principal Jeremy Chatterton has worked with concurrent enrollment teachers to accommodate their needs.
Concurrent enrollment classes are organized through Salt Lake Community College and use their canvas pages that requires two-factor authentication to log in. This can only be done through student’s phones.
“In concurrent classes, the law doesn’t work because you have to authenticate your account through Salt Lake Community College in order to access the Salt Lake Community College Canvas page, which is required,” Highland’s concurrent enrollment language arts teacher Carleen Burnell said.
Burnell has her students log into Canvas as they the enter the room, authenticate their accounts through their phones, and then put their phones away.
This exception has worked for concurrent enrolment classes but for other classes Chatterton is coming up with ideas to accommodate them. This includes tools that will help classes that would normally use their phones.
“What we are trying to do is supply all of our art teachers with iPads,” Chatterton said, also noting that other classes might need tools such as voice recorders and stopwatches.
Adding to some teachers’ frustration is that these tools come on every smartphone that would not cost the district any extra money if the ban allowed phones to be used when teachers deem them necessary.
Although some teachers have had to adjust the way they teach to conform with the law, many believe that it is generally beneficial. Highland math teacher Aria Cullen has seen positive improvements in her classroom.
“It has been really exciting to hear them socialize in a way they weren’t doing last year,” Cullen said.
Along with social improvements, Cullen has noticed her students learning improve as well. A study done by Rutgers University shows that students in classes that permitted devices and laptops scored a half a letter grade lower on end of term exams than in classes that banned phones and devices. Cullen has seen evidence of this in her math classes.
“Being able to have them keep their focus and not be gaming in the middle of class has really improved their test scores, so I think it’s been really beneficial,” Cullen said.
