WATERTOWN, Mass. — High schoolers across Massachusetts are just two months into the 2025-2026 school year — inching closer to a new normal that might be on the horizon: a statewide cellphone ban in schools.
The state senate passed a bill onto the house in July that would ban cellphone use in public schools across the state from “bell to bell.”
Massachusetts legislators tell Boston 25 that the House is looking closely at this bill that could soon be on the governor’s desk.
Meanwhile, districts like Watertown are experimenting with new ways to mesh technology with the potential legislation to come.
In August, Boston 25 spoke with the school about their recent partnership with a company called Doorman. The company was installing new tap-in technology in each classroom for students. The tap-in disables so-called “high dopamine”, distracting apps on the phones like Snapchat, Instagram, and more, using a VPN. It does, however, allow emergency calls and in-class resources on the phones.
Students are able to tap out at the end of class, which disables the VPN and allows them to use their phones fully outside of the class period.
The school said they were the first in the country to install the high-end technology in their classrooms.
In October, Boston 25 news reporter Daniel Coates returned to the school to analyze how it’s working.
Graham Madden, an English teacher at Watertown High School, said the system’s changed his classroom for the better.
“I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to work, and how students would respond to it,” he said. “Typical grumblings... [students] are going to complain.”
Regarding phones, he added, “It had been a major distraction... If we can limit those distractions in the school building, we can be more successful with keeping students engaged and ultimately teaching them skills to be successful in the future.”
The school’s principal, Joel Giacobozzi, has been in direct contact with Doorman as they launched the system over the last three months.
“Look, we love our cell phones, but this is a fair middle ground,” he said. “Cellphones during learning time is not a productive mix. They’re (the students) focused. They’re interacting with one another. You hear a lot more student voice in the classroom, which is something we’ve been focusing on. But this cellphone-free environment really allows us to amplify student voice.”
State Representative Ken Gordon, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, has been fielding negative and positive feedback on the proposed legislation.
He explained, “The primary pushback is the pushback from parents who are concerned they won’t have as easy access to their student.”
The proposed Bill S.2549 states, “The policy and any standards and rules enforcing the policy shall be prescribed by the school or district and approved by the school committee, board or other appropriate governing body.”
Districts would individually have to dictate how to enforce the “bell to bell” restriction.
Ishkhan Ishkhanian, Watertown High senior and class president, said their new system is a great middle ground for technology use and focused learning.
“We were all definitely anxious,” he said about the announced change before the year. “There’s definitely more communications around school.”
State legislators told Boston 25 there’s no timeframe on a finalized bill regarding cell phone bans in public schools by the House of Representatives.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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