{"id":315,"date":"2026-05-28T22:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=315"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:36:35","slug":"new-cellphone-limits-coming-for-hawaii-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=315","title":{"rendered":"New cellphone limits coming for Hawaii students"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Hawaii parents will begin receiving notices from their children\u2019s schools about a new statewide cellphone policy that will restrict when students can use their phones on campus beginning this fall.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=309\">Dodgers\u2019 revamped batting order pummels Rockies 15-6<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Hawaii parents will begin receiving notices from their children\u2019s schools about a new statewide cellphone policy that will restrict when students can use their phones on campus beginning this fall.<\/p>\n<p>Under the Board of Education policy adopted Feb. 12, elementary and middle school students will be prohibited from using cellphones during school hours, while high school students will be prohibited from using them during instructional time.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The policy was adopted the same day House Bill 2562, a broader school cellphone measure, was deferred.<\/p>\n<p>HB 2563 would have required the board to establish a \u201cphone-and-related devices-free, bell-to-bell policy\u201d beginning with the 2027-28 school year and would have included cellphones, smartwatches, earbuds, AirPods, Bluetooth-connected headphones and smart glasses.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Justin Woodson (D, Kahului-Puunene), chair of the House Education Committee, said HB 2563 followed years of concern over how phones were affecting students in school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe data that was coming out around cellphone usage in schools showed a direct negative correlation between cellphone usage and student outcomes ultimately,\u201d Woodson said.<\/p>\n<p>The BOE policy applies only to cellphones, leaving questions about whether students may turn to other devices once the restrictions take effect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re going to figure it out like they always do,\u201d said Sarah \u201cMili\u201d Milianta-\u00adLaffin, a seventh and eighth grade elective teacher at \u2018Ilima Intermediate School in Ewa Beach. \u201c\u2026 I think that it\u2019s not going to be a one-and-done policy. It\u2019s going to have to be revisited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milianta-Laffin was on leave this legislative session to lobby legislators on behalf of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.<\/p>\n<p>But the teachers themselves offered legislators little guidance as they debated HB 2563.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2025, 100 teacher delegates to the teachers union\u2019s annual convention were split over whether to allow, limit or outright ban cellphones, said Milianta-\u00adLaffin, who represented HSTA\u2019S Leeward chapter at the convention held at McKinley High School.<\/p>\n<p>Before the BOE decided its cellphone policy, many Hawaii public schools already had adopted their own rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving a Board of Education policy helps to have a uniform policy that puts everyone on the same page,\u201d said Teri Ushijima, assistant superintendent for the Department of Education\u2019s Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design.<\/p>\n<p>Exceptions will be allowed during emergencies or perceived threats to safety, when authorized by a teacher or administrator for instructional purposes, when required for a student\u2019s health needs as determined by a licensed physician or when included in a student\u2019s Individualized Education Program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are having the schools communicate at the start of the school year how parents can reach their students if they need to during the school day,\u201d Ushijima said.<\/p>\n<p>For teachers, the new policy is a welcome attempt to reduce a persistent classroom distraction, but also raises concerns about how the rules will be enforced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think cellphone addiction is real,\u201d Milianta-Laffin said. \u201cWe see it in our students every day and it is changing the way that students are learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=307\">Shohei Ohtani carries Dodgers past Rockies<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In classrooms, Milianta-\u00adLaffin said phones are often used for TikTok, Snapchat, messaging or even FaceTiming students in other classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a teacher, it kind of becomes whack-a-mole when you\u2019re trying to get one kid\u2019s phone handled and then another kid gets a phone out,\u201d she said. \u201cI cannot be more engaging than a child\u2019s TikTok algorithm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The policy\u2019s success, Milianta-Laffin said, will depend on whether teachers receive clear rules, consistent consequences and support from administrators when students push back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve never intended to be the phone police,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to talk about the instruction. We want to push the kids\u2019 learning. We want to celebrate learning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Hilo Intermediate School, eighth grade social studies teacher Aaron Kubo said his campus has already gone further than the BOE policy by using Yondr pouches since the start of the 2025-26 school year.<\/p>\n<p>Students lock their phones in the pouches at the beginning of the school day and have them unlocked at the end of the day by staff using a magnet.<\/p>\n<p>The pouches built on a cellphone restriction policy that had been in place at the school for more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is more of an iteration of it,\u201d Kubo said.<\/p>\n<p>At first, some students tried to work around the system by trying to break into the pouches or find ways to keep access to their phones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKids are very ingenious, they\u2019re very smart,\u201d Kubo said.<\/p>\n<p>Once the system became part of the school day, Kubo said he noticed fewer students leaving class without reason and fewer behavior issues tied to phones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was much, much less kids roaming around,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was much, much less of the fighting on campus and there was much more engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, a cellphone policy only works if adults on campus enforce it the same way and families understand the reason behind it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny ambiguity, any kind of issues, any special treatments, then it falls apart,\u201d Kubo said. \u201cSo that consistency and follow-through needs to be consistent and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first year of implementation is expected to bring adjustments for students, teachers and families as schools develop campus-\u00adlevel rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re locking it down, everybody\u2019s got to be on the same team,\u201d Milianta-\u00adLaffin said.<\/p>\n<p>The DOE plans to review the policy as schools begin using it and make changes if needed.<\/p>\n<p>For Kubo, the policy is also about helping students practice self-control before they leave middle school and face more independence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want them to understand that this is actually meant for them to actually try to focus on whatever it may be that they want to do in the future,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=305\">BIIF golf: Saito, Nakagawa named Players of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New cellphone limits coming for Hawaii students &#8211; Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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