By Habib Sabet/VTDigger
Vermont is on track to join a growing list of states that have banned smartphones from classrooms statewide.
Last week, lawmakers in a key committee advanced legislation that would require all of the state’s public school districts and independent schools to develop policies prohibiting students from using smartphones and other personal devices like smartwatches during the school day. The policies would need to take effect by the 2026-2027 school year.
A school cell phone ban was previously introduced in a standalone bill that has failed to move forward this legislative session. But on Thursday, May 15, members of the Senate Committee on Education voted to graft the ban onto H.480, a miscellaneous education bill that includes several smaller adjustments to Vermont’s education laws.
Now, with broad support in both chambers, lawmakers hope to send the bill to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk by the end of the session. The miscellaneous education bill is expected to soon hit the Senate floor before returning to the House, which needs to approve the new amendment to the bill.
“I feel like I still have to reserve a little caution, because there are still a couple steps, and things can always change,” Rep. Angela Arsenault (D-Williston), the lead sponsor of H.54, said in an interview. “But when it passes, I’m going to feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for everyone involved and making it happen, and relief for our kids and our teachers.”
In Vermont, a broad spectrum of advocates have said that a ban on smartphones and similar devices would go a long way toward alleviating soaring rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues among students.
“Our students are struggling mentally, socially [and] academically,” Benjamin Clark, a teacher at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School in South Burlington, told lawmakers this week while speaking in support of the measure. “And while there are many causes, one cause stands out clearly: the omnipresence of personal technology during the school day.”
The legislation would also prohibit schools from using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to communicate with students or from otherwise requiring students to have social media to engage in school activities. According to Arsenault, Vermont would be the first state in the country to adopt such a ban.
“It’s really a recognition that social media is not good for kids and that schools and educators should not be signaling that it is,” she said.
Mounting concerns about the emotional and cognitive impacts of smartphone and social media use among children have fueled a nationwide movement to limit the use of personal devices in schools.
Already 21 states have enacted laws either requiring districts to adopt phone-free policies or outright banning phones in public schools statewide. Nine other states, meanwhile, either recommend policies or incentivize districts to ban devices by providing state funding for pilot programs.
Many countries have also put into place nationwide versions of a classroom smartphone ban, including France, Italy, and Brazil.
Vermont could follow suit by the end of the year. Assuming lawmakers do pass H.480, the bill will go before Republican Governor Phil Scott, who has signaled his interest in taking smartphones out of the classroom.
In a written statement, Amanda Wheeler, a spokesperson for Scott, said that although the governor had not yet reviewed the specific language included in the miscellaneous education bill, he “has generally been supportive of phone-free school policies.”
“We often hear phones in the classroom [and in professional settings, for that matter] can be distracting,” Wheeler said, “so by implementing these policies, which some schools have already done, it helps students to focus on learning.”
