S-4672.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5346
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education (originally sponsored by Senators Liias, Harris, Shewmake, Dozier, Bateman, Christian, Frame, Hasegawa, King, Krishnadasan, Lovick, Nobles, and Salomon)
READ FIRST TIME 02/04/26.
AN ACT Relating to student use of mobile devices in public schools; amending RCW 28A.650.010 and 28A.650.050 ; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that student use of mobile devices in schools has had a multitude of negative effects on student outcomes. Mobile devices can be a constant distraction that disrupts the learning environment for all students. According to a study from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and as replicated by other researchers, the mere presence of a smartphone by a neighboring student lowers a nonphone student's test performance by about six percent. A study from the University of California, Irvine showed that it can take 20 minutes for students to refocus after each phone distraction and a separate study by the pew research center found that 72 percent of high school teachers in the United States say that cell phone distraction is a major problem in their classroom.
(2) The legislature further finds that mobile devices can increase harm to students' mental health either by recording students without consent or through increased cyberbullying. Washington students are still recovering from the massive effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, including severe learning loss and troubling trends in student mental health.