Lt. Gov. Husted speaks about positive impact of cell phone ban on Ohio school districts

OHIO (WLIO) - Ohio is seeing success in schools that have limited smartphone use by students during the school day.

The state passed a law requiring schools to have a policy in place by July 2025. So far, 60% of the school districts have implemented policies, either banning cell phones during the whole school day or banning them from the classrooms.

Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says that the schools that enacted a total ban during the school day have seen a change in the attitudes of the students.

"Really, they have seen a remarkable reduction in bullying and fights. They have seen a better overall culture in the school. They have seen academic performance go up, fewer mental health issues for kids. It's a great improvement to the overall setting in our schools across the state. Many of them in the Lima area have enacted these policies already, and we are confident that this is going to improve the overall school culture and academic performance in the State of Ohio," says Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, (R), Ohio.

Husted says that some schools that have banned phones from the classrooms only are moving to a complete ban for their students during the school day.

"When they banned smartphones throughout the school day that the lunchroom got loud again, and kids, instead of just being addicted to that phone and not even talking to each other, now they are talking to one another in the lunchroom. It's loud again. Kids are having actual human social interactions. So if we have seen any tweak, it's when schools partially limit the phone; eventually they go to completely eliminating the smartphone during the school day because of the value of that policy," adds Husted.

Husted says he expects the number of school districts to continue to grow, as the ones that have enacted the student cell phone policy continue to see positive results in their district.