A bipartisan measure directing the Department of Defense Education Activity to ban smartphone use by students in K-12 classrooms made it into the final version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The measures call for DODEA to prohibit students from using or possessing phones during school hours, citing concerns about classroom distractions. (Davide Angelini/stock.adobe.com)
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A bipartisan provision to limit the personal use of cellphones and other mobile electronic devices in Defense Department schools made it into the annual defense bill, which was passed Wednesday by the Senate.
The legislation orders the director of the Department of Defense Education Activity to update and standardize regulations to minimize student cellphone use “to the greatest extent practicable.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced the bill in June for consideration as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
On Monday, Slotkin said cellphones should be banned in every K-12 classroom in the United States, calling the proposed ban for DODEA “a big step forward” toward that goal.
“Parents, educators and experts agree that access to phones makes it harder for our kids to focus and learn, and this bipartisan measure will help the next generation succeed at school without distractions,” Slotkin said in a statement.
Under the current proposal, the DODEA director has 180 days to update and standardize existing regulations on student use of portable electronic devices if the legislation is passed.
Within 60 days of enactment of the policy, the defense secretary would be required to brief the armed services committees in the Senate and the House, according to the bill.
Currently, smartphone use in DODEA varies across the school system, which serves more than 65,000 children of American service members and Defense Department personnel stationed in the United States and overseas.
Department of Defense Education Activity schools worldwide would be required to ban smartphone use by students in K-12 classrooms under a proposal in the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation calls for DODEA to prohibit students from using or possessing phones during school hours. (Courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Smartphone policies are implemented at the local school level, DODEA spokeswoman Jessica Tackaberry said Wednesday.
Some schools already limit the use of smartphones and other personal electronic devices on campus.
At Spangdahlem Middle School in Germany, principal Stefanie Adams posted a message on the school’s website in August titled “Why We’re a Cell Phone-Free School.”
The message said students are welcome to bring their phones to school but must keep them silenced and out of sight during instructional time.
“Phones in classrooms interrupt focus and reduce academic performance — even when students aren’t actively using them,” she wrote.
Studies show that even one buzzing phone can disrupt the attention of an entire class, Adams added.
The school handbook of Kaiserslautern Middle School, also in Germany, states that all personal electronic devices — including smartphones, iPads, MP3 players, earphones, earbuds and headsets — must be stored in lockers and turned off during the school day.
By contrast, Edgren Middle High School at Misawa Air Base in Japan encourages students to use technology, requiring only that personal devices be kept on silent mode during class except when used for educational purposes with teacher permission, according to the online school handbook.
In the U.S., at least nine states have laws in place to curtail students’ use of cellular phones during school hours.
