Senate Says Yes to Banning Cell Phones in Schools

By John Kuykendall

Last week I wrote about House Bill 1009, a law that would ban students from having cell phones during the day at school. I stated that the Georgia House has approved the law and it was waiting for a Senate vote. Well, the Senate voted unanimously to approve the Bill.
I also state in the column the Bill was not without controversy and that some educators opposed the ban of phones because it was a battle they did not want to fight and I can understand that for several reasons.
I pointed out in the column a case that might shed light on why educators opposed the ban.
Back in 2013, Ronald Jackson took his 12-year-old’s iPhone 4 after the girl reportedly texted mean messages to the daughter of his new wife.
The same day, officers from the Grand Prairie Police Department arrived at his doorstep and asked him to return the phone. Michelle Steppe, the girl’s mother, had called the police, considering the act of discipline to be property theft. She felt taking the phone was an act of theft.
Jackson received a citation in the mail three months later for theft of property under $500, a Class C misdemeanor. He was offered a plea deal in January 2014 but requested a jury trial in municipal court.
The case was requested to be dismissed and refiled with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office as a stricter Class B misdemeanor, which can result in six months of jail time in addition to a $2,000 fine.
A warrant was then issued and Jackson was arrested in the middle of the night in April 2015. When the case went to trial, his daughter took the stand to talk about her father taking her phone years earlier.
The judge later directed jurors to find him not guilty, which they did.
The Bill would amend the state’s education laws and would require local school systems and public schools to enact policies and procedures for the use of personal electronic devices at school and school-sponsored events by students in grades nine through 12. Lawmakers say the Bill is an effort to create a distraction-free education environment and that removing the phones would improve academic outcomes and increased focus learning. Simply put, the idea is to allow teachers to teach.
A good idea in theory, right? However, Bridget Spencer with WRDW-TV interviewed some educators who opposed the Bill. The educators basically said that banning the cell phones would shift enforcement of the ban onto teachers as well as limit communication during emergencies.
Spencer quoted educator Darryl Adams who said he worried that the Bill would put the burden on teachers and administrators to police cell phones and that he felt it was a task that could invite conflict.
I also point out what Georgia law says about theft and I could see how a phone could go missing or get damaged and a conflict could happen for a teacher. It may also be possible that taking a cell phone away and get lost or damage could be considered theft. In Georgia anything valued at less than $1,500 or less is considered a misdemeanor and carries a jail time of up to 12 months and a fine up to $1,000. So, I guess teachers and administrators do have concerns and why wouldn’t they?
Today, shootings in schools are pretty common. During 2025 there were 18 school shooting incidents that resulted in injuries or deaths, which was the lowest number in five years. Not all of those incidents resulted in injury or death though, thankfully.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t disagree with the phone being turned off in the classroom but I believe a ban might be a little strong. I’m not sure, if I were an educator this day and age, that I would be comfortable trying to enforce such a law.
It might be much easier to have students place their phones in a designated container or location in each classroom and allow them to retrieve the phone when he or she exits the classroom. I’m sure there are ways to enforce no cell phone in the classroom but a ban I’m not sure about.
Cell phones can be handy in the event of an emergency. Just food for thought.