Students Question Emergency Plans Under Device Ban

Indiana families should ask how their child's school will handle contact during a crisis under the new classroom device rules.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Secondary Education

Students Question Emergency Plans Under Device Ban

Live Poll

Do you support banning student cellphones during class time at local schools?

Indiana's new law banning wireless devices in classrooms, passed in July, has drawn attention to student concerns about emergency communication, according to a Hopelab study published November 2. Students said they feel unprotected by their schools' emergency policies, particularly the absence of a way to reach family during a crisis.

Why it matters

For Indiana families, the study shows that removing phones from class also removes a familiar lifeline for reaching a parent during an emergency, so households may need to plan how they will stay in touch. The concerns arrived as the state's device restrictions took effect, making school emergency plans a practical topic for parents to raise with administrators.

Support for a class-time cellphone ban stands at 64% of high schoolers, compared with 33% who oppose it. Opposition rises to 80% when the ban applies to the full school day, a gap that shows students draw a line between class time and the rest of their day.

The players

Hopelab

A nonprofit research and advocacy organization that studies young people's relationships with technology and surveys students on issues affecting their lives and schools.

The details

Under the Indiana law, school districts may choose a total ban or may securely store powered-off devices and return them at the end of the day. Hopelab asked students to give feedback on their school emergency policies, and many said an effective emergency strategy had not been developed with them or communicated to them. Students also questioned how they would keep their families updated during a crisis and raised doubts about whether their school's active shooter plan would work. Some respondents said that removing cellphones, gaming devices and tablets improves attention in class, even as they voiced these safety concerns.

July: Indiana bill banning wireless devices in classrooms became law.
November 2: Hopelab published findings on student emergency concerns.

The Home Front

The debate over classroom devices now overlaps with family planning, as Indiana households weigh school safety against the convenience of constant contact with their children. The study places student emergency concerns alongside a broader national shift toward restricting phones in classrooms.

If your child attends an Indiana high school, ask the school how students will reach family during an emergency and whether the plan has been shared with students. Consider agreeing on a backup contact method with your teen so you can reach them if the device policy limits their access during the school day.

The takeaway

The study shows that a classroom device ban works best when schools also explain how students will communicate during an emergency. Ask your child's school for its written emergency communication plan and calendar a conversation about it at the start of the term.