Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced Friday that she’s introduced a bill restricting students’ cell phone use during instructional time.
Reynolds wrote: “We know the impact cell phone usage is having on our students.” The Governor added: “Seven in 10 high school teachers say smartphones are a major problem and 80 percent of Gen Z students spend over six hours per day on their phone.”
Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts supports Reynolds’s bill and wrote: “In Des Moines, we are seeing some positive results from a pilot program limiting cell phone usage at Hoover High School.”
If the bill — which also requires “effects of social media” training for 6th-8th grade students — passes, it will go into effect on July 1, 2025.
Today, I introduced a bill restricting students’ cell phone use during instructional time. We know the impact cell phone usage is having on our students. It’s time to give them the opportunity to learn free from digital distractions! pic.twitter.com/UQDgBb7cIb
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) January 24, 2025
Not all Iowans agree with the Governor’s proposed bill.
Parker Hansen, a conservative Christian small business owner, replied: “Banning cell phones won’t fix Iowa’s real education crisis. How about addressing teacher shortages, declining test scores, underfunded rural schools, and the AEA cuts that hurt at-risk students? We need real solutions, not distractions. Individual schools are more than capable of implementing their own cell phone policy. We don’t need government overreach.”
Hansen, who ran unsuccessfully (as an independent) for a seat in the Iowa House of Representatives in 2024, added: “So much for limited government. This push to restrict student cell phone use ignores that Iowa’s local schools & boards are fully capable of making their own policies. Instead of embracing 21st-century tech and trusting local decision-making, this top-down mandate sets us back.”
Note: Hansen lost the 2024 election to Republican Travis Sitzmann, who has yet to share his opinion of the bill.
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