It’s another day, and another heated debate is brewing on social media, this time over students’ use of cell phones at school.

While most adults appear to agree that children should put their phones aside during school hours, many folks are claiming a new law in Kansas goes too far.

Not only does a student’s phone need to be turned off and put out of sight, but kids in Kansas public schools must also fork over their phones, smartwatches, and earbuds to be put in “secure lockers” before the first bell, under a new House Bill 2299.

Kansas City Schools spent $150,000 on new lockers for middle and high school students, while staff can reportedly track stray devices via laptop.

Supporters of the bill, which was signed into law by Governor Laura Kelly in March 2026, are glad to see that kids won’t be distracted by their phones at school. Critics, on the other hand, argue they won’t be able to contact their kids in emergencies.

Video of students turning over their phones became a trending topic on X:

Kansas schools are requiring students to lock their phones in dedicated phone lockers after the state banned cellphones at school.

Kansas City, Kansas school district spent $150,000 on the new cell phone lockers.

Students are required to keep the phones locked up from before… pic.twitter.com/yRs4q6JXNg

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 13, 2026

Republican precinct chair and investigative journalist Sarah Fields blasted the video. “HOT TAKE: Until cameras are installed in classrooms, I’m not okay with this,” Fields said.

Fields was not alone in her hot take:

And when there’s a school shooting how the fuck are they supposed to contact parents? This is fucking stupid.

— InspiredByLife (@inspirebyliving) August 13, 2026

Sadly their motivation is 0% about ensuring they learn and entirely so they aren’t able to film the teachers and admin doing jacked up stuff.

— Proud American (@Meow81998508) August 13, 2026

I disagree with this and would take my kids out of school. They have no way to contact parents, call for help or report abuse. This isn’t to protect kids it’s to protect teachers.

— Tisha Giraud (@tishagiraud) August 14, 2026

This looks like they are training our youth to be comfortable when they are sent to prison… Because they’ve already experienced prison in high school.

Sending your children to public school in the USA is child abuse.

Somebody needs to certify an AI tutor for homeschooling.

— Leigh Ganschow (@LeighGanschow) August 14, 2026

On the other hand, plenty of folks thought the move was long overdue, with children already staring at screens 24/7.

two sides

one im sure the kids are distracted by them all day and use chat gtp to cheat

two if their parent is dying in the hospital its gonna take an hour to reach them

— Tychodragonfanclub 🐉 (@Tychodragonfan) August 13, 2026

This is long overdue, they should have started doing this 5 years ago, nation wide. Students use their phones constantly through the school day for everything but school, they watch porn, play video games, cheat on tests, plagiarize work and bully other students. They…

— Teacher of Fortune (@meanderboise) August 14, 2026

If we struggle this hard to fix the easy problems we have no chance of getting big issues solved. This was the most obvious solution for 20 years….where the hell was the teachers union on this.

— Who Dey Rob (@Robertlistens) August 14, 2026

We didn’t even have pay phones at school when I was enrolled. These kids will be fine.

— PablotheDiablo (@PabloDaleFuego) August 14, 2026

What say you?

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