PA Unplugged

Phone-Free Schools · Take Action

We are running out of time

Pennsylvania's phone-free schools bills die if they don't pass by November 30, 2026. Your legislators need to hear from you now.

8

session days left

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in Harrisburg for only 8 more session days before the session ends on November 30. The ask is simple: it doesn't matter which bill passes, as long as one passes this session. What are they going to do to make it happen?

The Current Status

The bills are stalled and the clock is ticking

  • Governor Shapiro supports bell-to-bell phone-free schools and has asked for a bill on his desk.
  • The Senate passed SB 1014, 46 to 1.
  • The House amended both bills to match each other and added private schools.
  • The House passed HB 1814, 126 to 75.
  • SB 1014 is waiting for a vote in the House. HB 1814 is sitting in the Senate Education Committee.
  • Nothing happened all summer.
  • If no bill passes by November 30, 2026, both bills die and the process starts over from the beginning.

Pennsylvania is one of only eight states with no phone-free schools legislation at all. This is a bipartisan issue with overwhelming support, but the bills now sit with the leaders who control each chamber's calendar. Members of both parties are letting it stall.

Follow both bills on the Legislation Tracker, or read why bell-to-bell works.

What You Can Do Today

Contact these legislators

Reach out to your own senator and representative and to leadership in both chambers, then send the governor a text. A phone call to a district office takes two minutes; an email through a contact form takes five with the letter below.

1

Your own state senator and representative

They hear most from constituents, so start here. Look them up by address.

Find my legislators ↗
2

Legislative leadership

These are the people who decide which bills get a vote. Contact all of them, whether or not they represent you.

Senate

House

3

Text Governor Shapiro

The governor supports phone-free schools. Thank him, and ask him to push leadership to get a bill to his desk. His office reads the texts that come in to this line.

Governor Shapiro, thank you for supporting bell-to-bell phone-free schools. Please push House and Senate leadership to get a bill to your desk before the session ends November 30.
Text 717-788-8990

On a computer? Text that number from your phone. The first reply asks you to sign up for his text line.

4

The bills' sponsors

Thank them for their work, and ask what they need from parents to get their bill across the finish line.

What You Can Say

A letter you can use

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and paste it into each contact form. A sentence or two about your own child or school makes it stronger. On the phone, keep it short: say you're a constituent, that you want phone-free schools passed this session, and ask what they are doing to make it happen.

Subject: Pass phone-free schools legislation before November 30

Fill in the brackets before you send.

Dear [Lawmaker], I am a [parent / teacher / grandparent / constituent] in [your town], and I am writing to ask what you are doing to make sure phone-free schools legislation passes before the session ends on November 30, 2026. The Senate, the House, and Governor Shapiro all support bell-to-bell phone-free schools. Both chambers have passed a bill. Yet we are near the end of the session and nothing has reached the governor's desk. If this session ends without a law, the work starts over, and Pennsylvania stays one of only eight states with no phone-free schools legislation at all. Parents, educators, doctors, and mental health experts do not care whether it is the Senate bill or the House bill. We want bell-to-bell phone-free schools. Here is why it matters: • Nearly 1 in 4 Pennsylvania students spend 4 or more hours a day on social media alone (PA Youth Survey, 2025). School should be a break from that. • Teens spend about 70 minutes of every school day on their phones (JAMA, 2026). With the time it takes to refocus after each interruption, that adds up to nearly a full day of instruction lost every week. That is taxpayer money spent on school days students are not getting. • 1 in 5 teens report being solicited online by a stranger, and that is happening during the school day. • The recent verdicts against Meta and YouTube confirm that these platforms are designed to be addictive and unsafe. They do not belong in classrooms. Very few Pennsylvania districts have acted on their own, and many have said they are waiting for Harrisburg. Parents have spoken at board meetings and met with principals and superintendents, yet most PA schools still have a weak policy or none at all. Please do not let this issue fall victim to politics. Pass a phone-free schools bill this session. Sincerely, [Your name] [Your address, so they can confirm you are a constituent] [Your school district]

It is time to get it done.

Then ask two friends to do the same. Want to stay in the loop as this moves?

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