As lawmakers debate banning cellphones in classrooms, schools across Northeast Pennsylvania take different approaches to phones in their buildings.
Across the country, 35 states have laws or rules limiting cellphones and other electronic devices in school, including 18 states and the District of Columbia where phones aren’t allowed during the school day. School leaders and lawmakers argue phones are bad for kids’ mental health and take their focus away from learning.
Lawmakers in Congress are pushing for legislation addressing cellphones in schools. A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this year would direct the U.S. surgeon general to look into their use in schools and the Department of Education to implement a pilot program that would award grants to local education agencies for purchasing containers and installing lockers for cellphones.
Pennsylvania does not ban cellphone use during the school day, but legislation approved in summer 2024 similar to the bill introduced in the House allocated $100 million for school districts to purchase lockable bags to secure student cellphones. Only 18 school districts applied.
Some lawmakers in Harrisburg don’t want students to use phones during class. State Sen. Devlin Robinson, a Republican, along with Democratic state Sens. Vincent Hughes and Steven Santarsiero, plan to introduce a bill that would require schools to adopt a policy prohibiting phones during the school day, with exceptions for students with medical conditions or individualized education plans that require a personal communication device.
The lawmakers pointed to studies showing children have worse mental health outcomes and declining academic achievement when they use cellphones. They are also distracting in the classroom, they added in a memo about the proposed legislation.
Cellphone bans are championed by one of the country’s largest teachers unions, with a 2024 National Education Association poll finding 90% of teachers support prohibiting student cellphone use during instructional hours and 75% favor extending restrictions to the entire school day.
Different approaches
Cellphone policies at public school districts and private schools in Northeast Pennsylvania vary, from students not being allowed to use them at all during the school day — with many schools requiring students place their phones in a pouch — to cellphones being allowed only during certain times of the day. Other schools allow cellphones to be used in classrooms at the discretion of the teacher.
Students at Riverside High School are allowed to use their cellphones before school, after the final bell and during lunch. Superintendent Paul Brennan said teachers can manage device use in a way that aligns with their teaching style.
“Some teachers restrict them and others allow for their use,” he said. “This strategy keeps distractions to a minimum while also preparing students for the future, where responsible technology use is expected in both college and the workplace.”
Hazleton Area School District Superintendent Brian Uplinger acknowledged the up- and downsides of cellphone use in the classroom.
“On one hand, they allow students instant access to online resources, calculators, and translation tools for communication purposes. In some cases, they can support instruction, especially when students use them responsibly for research or academic apps,” he wrote in an email last week.
“On the other hand, the challenges often outweigh the benefits during the school day. Cellphones can be a significant distraction, leading to off-task behavior, social media scrolling, gaming, or even cyberbullying. They can also make it easier for students to share answers inappropriately during tests or to record peers and staff without permission. Teachers consistently tell us that when cellphones are put away, students are more engaged in discussion, more willing to collaborate, and more focused on learning.”
Both the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre Area school districts prohibit cellphone use during the school day except for certain circumstances.
Officials at Scranton Preparatory School started a phone-free campus initiative this school year, with students placing their cellphones in locked pouches during the school day. They are unlocked using a magnet.
The school decided to enact the policy after members of the school community read “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt, which argues that children’s use of cellphones, in part, has led to an increase in mental health issues.
Scranton Prep had a strict no-cellphone policy in the past, but it was relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic when students needed technology for hybrid instruction, Dean of Students Corey Henfling said. Students would place their phones in a container before the start of class and pick them up when the class finished.
Like Scranton Prep, officials in the Wyoming Area School District implemented a policy requiring students at the secondary school to keep their phones locked in a pouch during the school day. It went into effect at the start of the school year.
Superintendent Jon Pollard said in an interview last week the response to it has been positive.
At Abington Heights High School, students are required to put their phones in a carrier at the start of class and retrieve them when they leave class.
Administrators at Abington Heights and Hazleton Area said students have Chromebooks and other forms of technology for schoolwork. Scranton Prep students each have a school-issued iPad to use for classwork that does not have social media apps.
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Students attend class at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Sophmore students engage with each other between classes at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Students engage in conversationa near their lockers of Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Dean of Students Corey Henfling demonstrates how to secure a cellphone in a Yondr pouch in the office of Rev. Angelo Rizzo, S.J. at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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A device used for locking or unlocking the Yondr pouch sits in the office of Rev. Angelo Rizzo, S.J. at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Rev. Angelo Rizzo, S.J. discusses the advantages of ther policy with student electronic device use in his office at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Wyoming Area superintendent Dr. Jon Pollard demonstrates the function of the Yondr pouch on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Ameriana Walker, senior student council vice president at Wyoming Area, demonstrates the function of the Yondr pouch on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Students attend class at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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‘Very much on task’
Scranton Prep administrators and teachers said they have noticed students interacting with each other and more engaged in class since the start of the school year. They said the school is noisier, particularly at lunchtime.
“They’re just very much on task,” said Christine Greco, a Spanish teacher at the school and chair of its world languages department. “There’s no distractions.”
Ashley Scanlon, a learning specialist at the school, said students are less anxious during the day and pay attention better.
Scranton Prep students said although the initiative took some getting used to, having their phones locked in a pouch has allowed them to be more productive in the classroom and during extracurricular activities. They have also gotten more involved in school activities and interact more at home.
“During school, we have all this free time … and I feel like if I had my phone during that (time) I’d literally just be on it the whole time, just doing anything but work,” said senior Julian Biederman. “I feel like I’m way more productive at the time that I have.”
Not looking at her phone during the school day has allowed fellow senior Cecelia Haggerty to worry less about her appearance.
“I feel like years before I’ve gotten up, put on a bunch of makeup because I’m always just seeing myself on my phone … and that’s something that always brought my mood down,” she said. “Now I just get up and go and I rarely even see how I look.”
Scranton Prep President the Rev. A.J. Rizzo, S.J., said the school’s initiative teaches students how to communicate better.
“High school is more than just about classrooms, it’s about learning socialization skills and how to look a person in the eye and have a conversation,” he said. “We feel like this phone-free space is a gift we’re giving them to help them learn those skills.”
Members of the Wyoming Area student council also said last week the district’s policy helped students be more focused in class and at home.
Abington Heights Superintendent Christopher Shaffer also said teachers and students have told him they are more focused with cellphones put away.
“By removing this distraction, it’s been helpful for our kids to maintain that focus on learning,” he said. “It’s helped our teachers as far as classroom management, as well as improving that learning environment.”
Ensuring student safety
Administrators said that during an emergency, they communicate with families through various school channels, which they say is easier than individual students using their cellphones to communicate.
Shaffer said teachers and administrators at Abington Heights take the lead when there is an emergency, moving students and contacting parents. This ensures communication during an emergency is focused and free from distractions, he said.
“We have safety protocols in place, and none of them require 30 kids to pull out a phone to make a phone call. That would create a very adverse situation, not to mention … when major emergencies are happening, it’s very difficult to get on the cellphone,” Shaffer said. “We want to clear that space for our emergency workers.”
Parents also have the ability to call a school, and students can ask school officials to contact their family, he said.
Hazleton Area schools are equipped with intercom systems, radios and a mass notification system that allows administrators to instantly connect with staff, families and emergency services, Uplinger said.
“Our staff members are trained in emergency response protocols and can act quickly to ensure communication flows in an organized way,” he said. “Parents are always able to reach the school office in an emergency, and we can reach parents directly through our district notification system.”
All classrooms and offices at Scranton Prep have a phone that can be used to call the school’s main office and outside numbers, including 911, Rizzo said.
Henfling said it is easier for a parent to contact the school to reach their child during school hours because contacting them on their cellphone is distracting. In addition, students using their cellphones during an emergency can spread false information.
“A lot of misinformation can be sent out of this building when kids have their phones,” he said.