| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2700 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require State educational agencies to implement policies prohibiting the |
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| 6 | 6 | | use or possession of personal mobile phones by students in public school |
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| 7 | 7 | | classrooms during school hours, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | APRIL7, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. V |
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| 11 | 11 | | INDMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Committee on Education and Workforce |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To require State educational agencies to implement policies |
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| 15 | 15 | | prohibiting the use or possession of personal mobile |
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| 16 | 16 | | phones by students in public school classrooms during |
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| 17 | 17 | | school hours, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Utilize No Phones in 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Learning to Unleash Growth in Grades and Educate Dis-5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | traction-free Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘UNPLUGGED Act of 6 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 2025’’. 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a) F |
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| 30 | 30 | | INDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) Public education is critical to the economic 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | vitality, national security, and democratic govern-4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ance of the United States. 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (2) Disruptions to the educational process di-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | rectly affect national productivity, civic engagement, 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | and workforce development. 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) The excessive use of mobile phones during 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | school hours significantly impairs the ability of 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | schools to maintain effective educational environ-11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ments. 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (4) A growing body of peer-reviewed literature 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | has documented the detrimental effects of mobile 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | phone usage in classrooms on attention, academic 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | performance, and mental health. 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (5) Studies published in journals such as Com-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | puters in Human Behavior, Educational Psychology, 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | and the Journal of Adolescent Health have shown 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | that the presence of mobile phones in academic set-20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | tings correlates with reduced focus, lower test 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | scores, increased academic procrastination, and 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | higher levels of anxiety and depression among stu-23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | dents. 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (6) Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, in both 25 |
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| 54 | 54 | | his academic work and public commentary, has— 26 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 58 | 58 | | (A) extensively documented the relation-1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | ship between the rise of smartphone use among 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | adolescents and the decline in mental health in-3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | dicators; 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (B) produced research pointing to a sharp 5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | increase in rates of anxiety, depression, and 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | self-harm beginning around 2012–2013, coin-7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ciding with widespread smartphone and social 8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | media adoption among teenagers; and 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (C) argued that overexposure to digital de-10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | vices and online platforms undermines the de-11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | velopment of resilience, emotional regulation, 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | and in-person social connection. 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (7) Limiting in-school phone access is essential 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | to reversing harmful psychological and academic 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | trends in American youth. 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (8) The presence of mobile phones in edu-17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | cational settings contributes to increased rates of 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | bullying, cyber harassment, academic dishonesty, 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | and classroom distractions, thereby undermining the 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | core mission of public education. 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (9) These issues are not confined to a single 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | state or region and are national in scope, with simi-23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | lar patterns of disruption and diminished student 24 |
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| 82 | 82 | | outcomes reported across state lines. 25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 86 | 86 | | (10) The cumulative effect of diminished edu-1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | cational achievement has a substantial impact on the 2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | national economy and workforce preparedness. 3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (b) S |
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| 90 | 90 | | ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | gress that each State educational agency, in coordination 5 |
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| 92 | 92 | | with each local educational agency served by the State 6 |
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| 93 | 93 | | educational agency and in consultation with educators, 7 |
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| 94 | 94 | | parents, and students, should establish and enforce a pol-8 |
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| 95 | 95 | | icy that— 9 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (1) enables parents to notify students through 10 |
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| 97 | 97 | | school officials about forgotten items, changes in 11 |
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| 98 | 98 | | pick-up times, and other common issues; and 12 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (2) enables schools to communicate with par-13 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ents regarding time-sensitive items. 14 |
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| 101 | 101 | | SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF STUDENT PHONE POSSESSION IN 15 |
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| 102 | 102 | | SCHOOLS. 16 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (a) I |
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| 104 | 104 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than the first school 17 |
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| 105 | 105 | | year beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | each State educational agency, in coordination with each 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | local educational agency served by the State educational 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | agency and in consultation with educators, parents, and 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | students, shall establish and enforce a policy that prohibits 22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | student possession or use of personal electronic devices, 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | including personal mobile phones, in public schools during 24 |
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| 112 | 112 | | school hours. 25 |
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| 115 | 115 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 116 | 116 | | (b) SECURESTORAGEMETHODS.—A personal elec-1 |
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| 117 | 117 | | tronic device policy established pursuant to subsection (a) 2 |
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| 118 | 118 | | may include a requirement that public schools use secure 3 |
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| 119 | 119 | | storage methods, including— 4 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (1) lockable lockers; 5 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (2) secure lock boxes; 6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (3) magnetic pouches or other signal-blocking 7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | storage devices; or 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (4) other technologies or materials deemed ap-9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | propriate by the State educational agency. 10 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (c) E |
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| 127 | 127 | | XCEPTIONS.—A personal electronic device policy 11 |
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| 128 | 128 | | established pursuant to subsection (a) may permit excep-12 |
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| 129 | 129 | | tions for— 13 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (1) students with medical or health conditions 14 |
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| 131 | 131 | | that require the use of a mobile phone or other per-15 |
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| 132 | 132 | | sonal electronic device as part of a treatment or 16 |
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| 133 | 133 | | monitoring plan, as certified by a licensed healthcare 17 |
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| 134 | 134 | | provider; 18 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (2) students with disabilities or special needs 19 |
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| 136 | 136 | | for whom access to a personal mobile phone or other 20 |
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| 137 | 137 | | personal electronic device is— 21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (A) documented as necessary in an individ-22 |
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| 139 | 139 | | ualized education program; or 23 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (B) included as part of services or accom-24 |
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| 141 | 141 | | modations provided to the student pursuant to 25 |
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| 144 | 144 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 145 | 145 | | section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 1 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (29 U.S.C. 794) (commonly referred to as a 2 |
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| 147 | 147 | | ‘‘Section 504 plan’’); 3 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (3) on an individualized basis for students— 4 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (A) who are English learners; 5 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (B) who have a demonstrated need for a 6 |
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| 151 | 151 | | personal electronic device to facilitate instruc-7 |
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| 152 | 152 | | tion; and 8 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (C) acquire documentation in support of 9 |
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| 154 | 154 | | subparagraph (A) and (B) in accordance with 10 |
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| 155 | 155 | | procedures established by the State educational 11 |
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| 156 | 156 | | agency; and 12 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (4) additional situations as States and local 13 |
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| 158 | 158 | | education authorities deem necessary and appro-14 |
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| 159 | 159 | | priate. 15 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (d) M |
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| 161 | 161 | | INIMUMREQUIREMENT.—The requirements in 16 |
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| 162 | 162 | | this Act shall constitute a minimum standard. Nothing in 17 |
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| 163 | 163 | | this Act shall be construed to preempt or prevent a State, 18 |
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| 164 | 164 | | State educational agency, or local educational agency from 19 |
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| 165 | 165 | | enacting more restrictive policies regarding student pos-20 |
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| 166 | 166 | | session or use of mobile phones or other personal elec-21 |
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| 167 | 167 | | tronic devices during school hours, on school grounds, or 22 |
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| 168 | 168 | | during school activities. 23 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (e) G |
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| 170 | 170 | | RANTPROGRAMAUTHORIZED.— 24 |
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| 173 | 173 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 174 | 174 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 1 |
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| 175 | 175 | | shall establish a grant program to provide funding 2 |
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| 176 | 176 | | to State educational agencies to purchase, imple-3 |
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| 177 | 177 | | ment, or maintain secure storage methods, and re-4 |
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| 178 | 178 | | lated training or infrastructure, in accordance with 5 |
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| 179 | 179 | | a personal electronic device policy established by 6 |
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| 180 | 180 | | such State educational agency pursuant to sub-7 |
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| 181 | 181 | | section (a). 8 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (2) A |
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| 183 | 183 | | PPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 9 |
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| 184 | 184 | | grant under this subsection, a State educational 10 |
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| 185 | 185 | | agency shall submit to the Secretary an application 11 |
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| 186 | 186 | | at such time, in such manner, and containing such 12 |
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| 187 | 187 | | information as the Secretary may require. 13 |
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| 188 | 188 | | SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 14 |
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| 189 | 189 | | For purposes of this Act: 15 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (1) ESEA |
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| 191 | 191 | | TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | school’’, ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local educational agen-17 |
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| 193 | 193 | | cy’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State edu-18 |
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| 194 | 194 | | cational agency’’ have the meanings given the terms 19 |
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| 195 | 195 | | in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 20 |
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| 196 | 196 | | Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 21 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (2) I |
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| 198 | 198 | | NDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM .— 22 |
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| 199 | 199 | | The term ‘‘individualized education program’’ has 23 |
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| 200 | 200 | | the meaning given such term in section 602 of the 24 |
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| 203 | 203 | | •HR 2700 IH |
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| 204 | 204 | | Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 1 |
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| 205 | 205 | | U.S.C. 1401). 2 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (3) M |
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| 207 | 207 | | OBILE PHONE.—The term ‘‘mobile phone’’ 3 |
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| 208 | 208 | | means any handheld communication device with cel-4 |
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| 209 | 209 | | lular, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth capability, including 5 |
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| 210 | 210 | | smartphones and similar devices. 6 |
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| 211 | 211 | | (4) P |
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| 212 | 212 | | ERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICE .—The 7 |
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| 213 | 213 | | term ‘‘personal electronic device’’— 8 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (A) includes mobile phones, smartwatches, 9 |
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| 215 | 215 | | tablets, and other handheld or wearable devices 10 |
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| 216 | 216 | | with communication, internet, or multimedia ca-11 |
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| 217 | 217 | | pabilities; and 12 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (B) does not include laptops or tablets that 13 |
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| 219 | 219 | | are authorized by the school and used solely for 14 |
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| 220 | 220 | | instructional purposes under teacher super-15 |
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| 221 | 221 | | vision so long as such laptops or tablets are re-16 |
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| 222 | 222 | | stricted from accessing social media platforms, 17 |
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| 223 | 223 | | personal email, messaging or texting services, 18 |
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| 224 | 224 | | and other non-academic applications during in-19 |
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| 225 | 225 | | structional time. 20 |
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| 226 | 226 | | (5) P |
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| 227 | 227 | | UBLIC SCHOOL .—The term ‘‘public 21 |
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| 228 | 228 | | school’’ means— 22 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (A) a public elementary school; and 23 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (B) a public secondary school. 24 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (6) SCHOOL HOURS.—The term ‘‘school hours’’ 1 |
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| 235 | 235 | | means the period from the start of the instructional 2 |
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| 236 | 236 | | day until the end of the instructional day, as defined 3 |
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| 237 | 237 | | by the State educational agency. 4 |
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| 238 | 238 | | Æ |
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