Voices: Digital technology has infiltrated Utah classrooms — mine included. Now is the time to implement bell-to-bell smartphone bans.

As students’ national test scores continue to decline, along with their mental, emotional and physical health, the research is becoming more clear: Smartphones are negatively impacting kids in myriad ways.

Giving them a break from their personal devices during the school day, by way of implementing bell-to-bell policies — meaning that phones are kept in lockers or pouches from the first bell to the last — is becoming a popular choice for schools around the globe and is now considered by many to be the gold standard for managing smartphones in school.

In March of 2024, I made the difficult decision to leave my decade-long teaching career, after feeling like my teaching attempts were increasingly falling on deaf ears (or at least airpod-filled ones). I could no longer compete with the array of alluring digital technologies that had infiltrated classrooms, and I felt compelled to find a way to make a change. I soon connected with a number of other parents, advocates and educators who were feeling the same, and in May 2024, we organized Smartphone Free Childhood US. Our mission is to help families reclaim childhood, and we are working to change the current cultural norms involving children and screen overuse.

One of our most successful efforts thus far has been helping schools implement bell-to-bell phone policies. There are currently 17 states (plus D.C.) that have passed state-wide, bell-to-bell policies. And Utah is also making strides towards creating policy at the state level that will ensure that students are able to focus and learn in an environment without the distraction of smartphones. SB178 (Devices in the Classroom) passed in March of 2025, and it shows progress towards that end. Even so, class time only policies fall short in a number of critical ways.

When students have access to their smartphones between classes, as well as during lunchtime, teachers and administrators still need to police students to keep phones away, which is damaging to relationships. Students are not given the chance to practice social and emotional skills, neither are they afforded the opportunity to practice independence. The risk of cyberbullying is a threat that causes many students to hesitate being genuine or vulnerable in their interactions, for fear of being recorded and later exposed on social media. And smartphones in kids’ hands increases the risk of poor outcomes in emergency situations at school, according to a letter from the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Dr. Rich Nye, Governor Cox’s Senior Advisor of Education, and former superintendent of Granite School District, testified in June 2025 at the National Committee on Education & Workforce:

“Taking phones out of classrooms isn’t enough. If students are allowed to bury their heads in phones in the hallways or in the lunchroom, rather than engaging with each other, we’re missing an opportunity for them to develop the interpersonal skills so critical to growth and success.”

In February 2025, Vermont had a Community Day of Support for Phone and Social Media Free Schools, where local experts and educators spoke in favor of an upcoming bell-to-bell bill, but it was the students who were especially persuasive in their testimonies. Hardy Payson, a high school student at Thetford Academy, spoke of the changes he noticed during the 2024-2025 school year:

“After my own school went phone-free, I’ve found that as I’m reaching for my phone less in class, I’m really doing the same at home. After school, instead of scrolling on Instagram, like I used to, I take the time to read a book or learn the guitar. Instead of lounging around in my room, I’ll go with my friends — I’ll go hiking or rock-climbing, really whatever. I’ve noticed that habits that you build up in the school day undoubtedly are reflected onto your personal time, outside and after school. That, in many senses, is the purpose of an education — to foster habits that will be useful outside of school and later in life. Since our school went phone-free, I think I’ve really been happier, less distracted, and I feel like I really have time to do what I want to do.”

I recently heard a parent comment that until school administrators could guarantee her children’s safety, she would insist that they have smartphones at school. The reality, however, is that none of us can ever completely guarantee the safety of those we love and cherish most — not at school, not out in the community, not even within the walls of our homes. And yet, it’s part of what makes our time together all the more precious and valuable.

What is most important in life are the face-to-face, real-life connections and relationships that we have, not the hyperstimulating distractions on our phones. Let’s put our focus where it should be, rather than on the frictionless devices in our pockets.

Kathleen Barlow, mother of six and grandmother of three, is a former French teacher in Utah who left her teaching career in 2024, in order to raise awareness about the negative impact of digital technology overuse. She is working to educate individuals, families and schools on focusing on real-life connections, rather than virtual ones. Kathleen serves on the Smartphone Free Childhood US Leadership Council, and is enjoying her conversations with Gen Z folks on her new podcast, Gen Free: Unplugging 2 Connect.

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