Florida was the first state to pass a law regulating the use of cellphones in schools in 2023. Just two years later, more than half of all states have laws in place, with more likely to act soon.

Bills have sprinted through legislatures this year in states as varied as New York and Oklahoma, reflecting a broad consensus that phones are bad for kids.

Connecticut state Rep. Jennifer Leeper, a Democrat and co-chair of the General Assembly’s Education Committee, on May 13 called phones “a cancer on our kids” that are “driving isolation, loneliness, decreasing attention and having major impacts both on social-emotional well-being but also learning,” as reported by The Associated Press.

Republicans express similar sentiments.

“This is a not just an academic bill,” Republican Rep. Scott Hilton said after Georgia’s bill, which only bans phones in grades K-8, passed in March. “This is a mental health bill. It’s a public safety bill.”

So far, 26 states have passed laws, with eight other states and the District of Columbia implementing rules or making recommendations to local districts. Of the states, 17 have acted this year. Just Tuesday, Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed a law banning phones throughout the school day. Earlier Tuesday, Alaska lawmakers required schools to regulate cellphones when they overrode an education package Republican

More action is coming as bills await a governor’s signature or veto in Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and New Hampshire.

But by far the most high-profile exception has been allowing cellphone use in case of emergencies. One of the most common parent objections to a ban is that they would not be able to contact their child in a crisis like a school shooting.

“It was only through text messages that parents knew what was happening,” said Tinya Brown, whose daughter is a freshman at Apalachee High School, northeast of Atlanta, where a shooting killed two students and two teachers in September. She spoke against Georgia’s law at a news conference in March.

Some laws call for schools to find other ways for parents to communicate with their children at schools, but most lawmakers say they support giving students access to their cellphones, at least after the immediate danger has passed, during an emergency.

In some states, students have testified in favor of regulations, but it’s also clear that many students, especially in high schools, are chafing under the rules. Kaytlin Villescas, a sophomore at Prarieville High School, in the suburbs of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is one student who took up the fight against bans, starting a petition and telling WBRZ-TV in August that Louisiana’s law requiring a school day ban is misguided. She argued that schools should instead teach responsible use.

“It is our proposition that rather than banning cellphone use entirely, schools should impart guidelines on responsible use, thereby building a culture of respect and self-regulation,” Villescas wrote in an online petition.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong called the ban throughout the school day that he signed into law “a huge win.”

“Teachers wanted it. Parents wanted it. Principals wanted it. School boards wanted it,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong recently visited a grade school with such a ban in place. He said he saw kids engaging with each other and laughing at tables during lunch.

We see the argument from both sides; students should certainly have access to cellphones in the event of an emergency, but students are also in school to learn and sharpen their social skills, not be glued to a piece of technology all day. Hopefully, these states can find the right balance between these two elements.