By: Dominic Hummel

Starting January 1, 2026, Ohio students will come back from winter break to classrooms with some major changes. Cell phones will be banned during the instructional time of the day. A statewide mandate was signed into effect by Governor DeWine with the goal of reducing distractions and keeping students focused on their learning.

According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW), “An instructional day is any period in which a student is expected to be in attendance and includes not only formal instruction time but also supervised activity such as transitioning between classes, recess, mean periods, and field trips.”

But how do actual Ohio high school students feel about the statewide mandate?

Bellbrook senior Layla Hanks said the change won’t affect her much. “It doesn’t bother me currently,” Hanks said. “I enjoy being able to talk to my peers in class without the need to check my phone. But I think as soon as they change it to not being able to have it in class, it’ll bother me more. I usually don’t have much work to do during my study hall so being able to be on my phone is relaxing.”

Teachers at BHS can also see the potential challenges with the new rule. “I think that what we are doing with the phone pouches is effective because it shows consistency with each class,” business teacher Mr. Craig said. “Once phones become banned and some teachers enforce the new policy and others don’t, it could create problems.”