(Boston- 6/17/25) Today, Senator John C. Velis testified before the Joint Committee on Education on his bill to limit students’ access to personal electronic devices, including cell phones, during school hours. The hearing for the Senator’s legislation follows a roundtable held just last week in Agawam focused on youth mental health where Senate President Karen Spilka stated that this topic would be major priority of the Senate ahead of next school year.
The legislation, S.461 An Act to protect children’s learning, focus, and emotional health during school hours, would require local school boards to develop district policies that prohibits access to personal electronic devices and social media during school hours. The legislation provides exceptions, including for students with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs),and also requires that school policies ensure that parents and students are able to contact one another if requested during the school day.
During the hearing, Velis’s legislation received substantial support from leading experts on youth behavioral health, including from Jonathan Haidt, the author of the New York Time’s best seller The Anxious Generation. Haidt and his co-researcher, Zachary Rausch, are considered the foremost experts on how the spread of smartphones and social media have led to a “rewiring” of childhood and a rise in mental illness. Specifically, the two researchers offered written testimony to the Joint Committee on Education noting that Velis’s legislation “meets all the requirements of the model bill we have endorsed.”
“Through many interactions with students and faculty in my district, I’ve had firsthand conversations with students on the many different issues phones cause in our schools,” shared Senator John C. Velis, Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery. “Put simply, our kids need a break during the limited number of hours they are learning in classrooms, not only to help them focus on their education but for their emotional well-being as well. As a leader in education in this country, Massachusetts cannot fall behind by ignoring the problem that cell phones and social media present in our schools.”
Currently 21 other states have passed phone free school mandates, and many others are currently considering similar proposals. Velis shared that he hopes the legislation receives a favorable report from the Committee and is brought before the Senate before the beginning of the new school year in September.