Kids at Military Base Schools Will Have to Ditch Cellphones

Military kids on US bases are about to join the growing list of students who can't check TikTok between classes. Tucked into the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act is a new requirement: K-12 students at schools run by the Department of Defense Education Activity will be barred from using smartphones during the school day. The bipartisan measure, dubbed the REFOCUS DoDEA Act, was pushed by Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana and co-sponsored by Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who argue it's about both education and national security, per ABC News.

Banks, a Navy veteran, says weak school performance is driving some service members out of service. "If they serve in the military for 10 or 12 years and decide to get out because their kids are going to a crappy school, that's a national security issue," he says, calling the phone crackdown a "small step" toward fixing base schools. Slotkin calls it "better and healthier for kids not to be looking at their phones while they're trying to learn," adding it's a "big step forward" toward a possibly broader national ban, per Stars and Stripes.

The rule will cover more than 65,000 students at 161 schools across seven states, two US territories, and nearly a dozen foreign nations, per ABC. The Pentagon has 30 days to spell out how the prohibition will work, including medical and disability-related exceptions. Supporters of the bill say phones are fueling distraction and mental health problems. Critics of the legislation, meanwhile, worry about losing instant contact with kids during emergencies.