Utah Governor Spencer Cox had the goal this year to create a new cell phone ban among Utah schools. The Utah State Legislature approved this ban coming into effect August of 2026 This ban will be a Bell to Bell default ban on phones, a main priority for the governor. Cox has been very vocal about the phone situation in Utah. The house voted 46-21 on Wednesday to approve the new proposal and the senator Mike Lee gave the final nod to this bill. This bill will let individual schools adopt their own cell phone rules as they see fit, but the default ban no matter what will be bell to bell.
Ellie Brower, a Sophomore at Skyline High School, thinks that the “bell to bell” ban is not a good idea. As she noted, “What if you have an emergency but can’t pull your phone out.” Brower said that even now, most teachers won’t let you step out to make a phone call if there is an emergency. She thinks that the phone situation now is fine, during passing periods the new rule to not be allowed to have your phone out should be voted against because that’s something that teachers or us as students can’t control.
Alexis Brim, another Sophomore at Skyline High School, thinks that it is important to let students keep their phones in their pocket. Just in case anything happens they don’t want to have to go to the office to do what they need that’s just unnecessary. Brim feels as though the “bell to bell” rule won’t be efficient because during passing periods people are going to want to use their phones and text their friends in between classes so it’s really unavoidable.
Although Brower and Brim feel the same way about the new bell to bell rule in Utah schools, there are many different opinions about how people want to feel. When Brower and Brim go to school, they want to feel safe–like they can step out in the hall at any time and check their phones when they need to. They don’t want to have to stress because they can’t check for an emergency. Most kids in schools put their phones up in little pouches and that mainly keeps them from going on them during class.
