I have taught in local high schools for nearly a decade. The first lesson I learned is that engagement matters. Teachers are educators, but we are also entertainers; boredom is as much our enemy as apathy. It is our daily task to tear a teenager’s attention away from their latest daydream, or worse, romantic fixation. We have strategies for this sort of thing. Sometimes, we even succeed in getting kids to sit up straight, but it’s a losing battle.

Teachers aren’t up against daydreams anymore. We are battling algorithms.

I am competing with a device explicitly designed to hijack attention. I am not equipped to win against fortune 500 companies and armies of user interface engineers. I am not afraid to hop on a desk, to emote, to rise to a fever pitch and show some passion in my work. My colleagues and I are not the teachers from Ferris Bueller’s day off — everyone I know in the industry has their toolbox to engage their kids. The problem is that we are simply outgunned.

And it is not the kids’ fault either. Many of my students have gone to top universities. I have had students who inspire me with their dedication, but even these high achievers struggle against the easy dopamine of the phone screen. It is unreasonable to expect teenagers to have the kind of willpower necessary to resist the temptation of the notification. It may even be immoral to put them in that position. We need strong legislation to contend with cell phones.

That is why state Senate Bill 1014 matters. Introduced in October 2025, the bill would establish a bell-to-bell statewide ban on student cell phone use during the school day. In short, it would give schools the muscle they need to set firm boundaries — and the wherewithal to enforce them.

I know boundaries work, because I’ve seen it. Bethlehem’s Freedom High School, where I teach, began instituting a new cell phone policy during the 2023-24 school year. Students’ access to their cellphones during instructional time was greatly limited. Teachers were instructed to enforce the policy, and administrative support was robust and consistent, ensuring that we followed the policy with integrity.

The policy worked

One surprising result was a noticeable decrease in fights. In my seven years in the district, the last two have been the most peaceful. When conflicts occur now, they are spontaneous. They aren’t staged for social media, and the gossip mill doesn’t churn as violently. Less damage is done, and the school environment is safer.

Attendance has improved as well. Without phones as a time sink, trips to the bathroom are quicker and students are more likely to return to class after taking care of legitimate business. Most importantly, instructional time has been reclaimed.

Critics might raise concerns about emergencies, medical needs and parental access. These issues are easily solved. Schools have phones in every classroom. Commonsense exceptions, such as for medical conditions, are extremely easy to implement. Many readers will remember a time before the ubiquitous cell phone, when families survived without real-time access to their children during the school day.

They can do so again

Parental needs may not have changed, but teacher authority has. Teachers today do not have the unilateral control they once did. Discipline requires extensive documentation, and all it takes is one angry email for classroom enforcement to collapse. Without statewide backing, the progress we have made at places like Freedom will erode away as administrators and teachers cave to apathy and pressure from students and parents.

That is why state legislation is necessary. Bill 1014 would give districts the muscle to enforce rules consistently, even when those rules are unpopular. It would shift enforcement from individual teachers to a clear statewide standard.

Cell phone bans are not a panacea. They will not fix student mental health, eliminate discipline problems, or solve the widely reported literacy crisis. But legislation like this gives me a little hope that we can move the needle in a positive direction. Bill 1014 may just give teachers an important tool to reengage our students in the learning process. In the war for attention, cell phone bans are the weapon we need.

Originally published on January 22, 2026, in The Morning Call.