Give Parents the Choice: Support the Teenage Technological Responsibility Waiver in Kansas
The Issue
Why this matters:
The new Kansas "bell-to-bell" school phone ban removes parental authority and treats every high school student like an addict, rather than a young adult learning responsibility. Forcing teachers to act as "phone police" is already causing classroom friction, and tech-literate students are spending their time hacking school Chromebooks out of sheer boredom.
We deserve a better system. We are proposing the Teenage Technological Responsibility Waiver. This framework lets parents decide if their child is mature enough to possess a device. In return, students must maintain their grades and follow strict classroom boundaries. If a student fails, the waiver is revoked.
By signing this petition, you are telling the Kansas Legislature and the Olathe School Board that you support parental rights, student accountability, and safer, less stressful classrooms. Sign today to support earned trust over forced restriction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Won't phones distract students?
Some students struggle with phone use, which is why the waiver can be revoked for poor grades or misconduct. The proposal focuses on earned responsibility rather than unrestricted access.
Q: Why not keep the blanket ban?
The proposal argues that parents should have a role in deciding whether their child may participate, while students remain accountable for their academic performance and behavior.
Q: What happens if a student abuses the privilege?
The waiver may be revoked if the student fails to meet established academic or behavioral standards.
Q: Does this remove teacher authority?
No. Teachers would retain authority to enforce classroom rules and report misuse.
The statistics:
Research on school phone bans appears mixed.
Some studies suggest phone restrictions may improve attendance and test scores in certain schools. For example, Emma Salomon summarized research noting that when comparing high-effect and low-effect schools, researchers found reductions in unexcused absences after cell phone bans and suggested that improved attendance could explain as much as half of the test score improvements.
However, other recent research has found that strict phone bans may reduce phone use during the school day while having little clear effect on test scores, attendance, classroom engagement, or online bullying.
Because the research is mixed, I do not believe the discussion should be reduced to “phones good” or “phones bad.” Phones can be distracting, but they are not the only factor affecting student performance. Attendance, sleep deprivation, mental health, enforcement, school culture, and overall screen use outside of school may also play a role.
This is why I believe Kansas should consider a balanced policy that addresses classroom distractions while still recognizing medical needs, family communication, student accountability, and parental involvement.
My opinion on the matter:
Being a high school student myself, I obviously am in objection to this phone ban. Gathering responses from my peers all share things in common, Safety. Medical concerns regarding privacy. Backlash from students initially. etc. I myself needing my phone for medical reasons feel that by banning phones and having exemptions for people like me exposes us for public scrutiny from our peers. Maybe its just me, but in a school with people who don't have access to phones, while a hand full do, feels like I'm being called out for something I don't want people publicly knowing. Surveying students over the past couple weeks has led to the conclusion that they don't feel safe at school even as it is with phones, and taking that away is another resource down the drain that could be used for things better than just a merely "distraction". One student says " Had it not been for me texting my mom... I likely would have passed out or had an even worse medical emergency". With that being said, I'm not saying that I want unlimited access to my phone at school, I want a place where we can utilize it without it getting in the way of learning. I also don't think that phones are the only problem causing test scores. In fact I myself, wrote a paper for the KSA [Kansas state assessment] regarding teens are increasingly showing up to school sleep depraved and mentioned data correlating to declining test scores specifically here in Kansas in which i called them out for (I never got my paper back while other students did, so that gives me reason to believe they didn't like that a student is going out of their way call them out on something that could be handled better). Part of the paper explains that teens only produce the natural sleep hormone after 11pm at night. Since that is the case, waking up as early as 5 am for some students is another reason schools are setting up students for failure by having common start times at 7:45 in the morning. So I would like the chance for people to sign this to at least say something against house bill 2299. Quiet frankly I think this could be handled better. Lets say regardless of cost and resources, would you sign a bill that allows for use of cell phones in a productive way, instead of students like me being affected by the actions of others mistakes? Or would you sign the bill that just outright bans phones just because its less work? Because that's the society we live in today, it's do we want to take the easy way or hard way and take accountability and responsibility.
Sources cited:
Largest-ever study of school cellphone bans finds mixed results
Within the article I also referenced the: NBER Study and the Pew Research Study.
99
The Issue
Why this matters:
The new Kansas "bell-to-bell" school phone ban removes parental authority and treats every high school student like an addict, rather than a young adult learning responsibility. Forcing teachers to act as "phone police" is already causing classroom friction, and tech-literate students are spending their time hacking school Chromebooks out of sheer boredom.
We deserve a better system. We are proposing the Teenage Technological Responsibility Waiver. This framework lets parents decide if their child is mature enough to possess a device. In return, students must maintain their grades and follow strict classroom boundaries. If a student fails, the waiver is revoked.
By signing this petition, you are telling the Kansas Legislature and the Olathe School Board that you support parental rights, student accountability, and safer, less stressful classrooms. Sign today to support earned trust over forced restriction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Won't phones distract students?
Some students struggle with phone use, which is why the waiver can be revoked for poor grades or misconduct. The proposal focuses on earned responsibility rather than unrestricted access.
Q: Why not keep the blanket ban?
The proposal argues that parents should have a role in deciding whether their child may participate, while students remain accountable for their academic performance and behavior.
Q: What happens if a student abuses the privilege?
The waiver may be revoked if the student fails to meet established academic or behavioral standards.
Q: Does this remove teacher authority?
No. Teachers would retain authority to enforce classroom rules and report misuse.
The statistics:
Research on school phone bans appears mixed.
Some studies suggest phone restrictions may improve attendance and test scores in certain schools. For example, Emma Salomon summarized research noting that when comparing high-effect and low-effect schools, researchers found reductions in unexcused absences after cell phone bans and suggested that improved attendance could explain as much as half of the test score improvements.
However, other recent research has found that strict phone bans may reduce phone use during the school day while having little clear effect on test scores, attendance, classroom engagement, or online bullying.
Because the research is mixed, I do not believe the discussion should be reduced to “phones good” or “phones bad.” Phones can be distracting, but they are not the only factor affecting student performance. Attendance, sleep deprivation, mental health, enforcement, school culture, and overall screen use outside of school may also play a role.
This is why I believe Kansas should consider a balanced policy that addresses classroom distractions while still recognizing medical needs, family communication, student accountability, and parental involvement.
My opinion on the matter:
Being a high school student myself, I obviously am in objection to this phone ban. Gathering responses from my peers all share things in common, Safety. Medical concerns regarding privacy. Backlash from students initially. etc. I myself needing my phone for medical reasons feel that by banning phones and having exemptions for people like me exposes us for public scrutiny from our peers. Maybe its just me, but in a school with people who don't have access to phones, while a hand full do, feels like I'm being called out for something I don't want people publicly knowing. Surveying students over the past couple weeks has led to the conclusion that they don't feel safe at school even as it is with phones, and taking that away is another resource down the drain that could be used for things better than just a merely "distraction". One student says " Had it not been for me texting my mom... I likely would have passed out or had an even worse medical emergency". With that being said, I'm not saying that I want unlimited access to my phone at school, I want a place where we can utilize it without it getting in the way of learning. I also don't think that phones are the only problem causing test scores. In fact I myself, wrote a paper for the KSA [Kansas state assessment] regarding teens are increasingly showing up to school sleep depraved and mentioned data correlating to declining test scores specifically here in Kansas in which i called them out for (I never got my paper back while other students did, so that gives me reason to believe they didn't like that a student is going out of their way call them out on something that could be handled better). Part of the paper explains that teens only produce the natural sleep hormone after 11pm at night. Since that is the case, waking up as early as 5 am for some students is another reason schools are setting up students for failure by having common start times at 7:45 in the morning. So I would like the chance for people to sign this to at least say something against house bill 2299. Quiet frankly I think this could be handled better. Lets say regardless of cost and resources, would you sign a bill that allows for use of cell phones in a productive way, instead of students like me being affected by the actions of others mistakes? Or would you sign the bill that just outright bans phones just because its less work? Because that's the society we live in today, it's do we want to take the easy way or hard way and take accountability and responsibility.
Sources cited:
Largest-ever study of school cellphone bans finds mixed results
Within the article I also referenced the: NBER Study and the Pew Research Study.
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Petition created on June 14, 2026