Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation or executive orders that ban or restrict cell phone use in schools. Massachusetts may soon be added to that list.

On August 31, the Massachusetts Senate passed Bill S.2561, which would prohibit students from using personal electronic devices (PEDs) during the school day. The bill allows individual public schools to develop their own policies if they ensure “secure storage of personal electronic devices during the school day.” The bill was referred to a House committee, where it awaits a vote. The high school is in a holding period until the bill is voted on.

Dean Summer Williams said high school administrators have not had many formal conversations regarding the state-level bill, and that they are waiting for a decision to be made.

“I don’t know if we should be saying ‘banning phones.’ I don’t think the intention is to ban phones, but I think the intention is to figure out limited use during the school day,” Williams said.

English teacher Nicholas Rothstein is on the Legislature phone bill subcommittee, working on what a new phone policy should look like next year, if the ban were enacted. Rothstein said he joined the committee because he believes the school administration and community underestimate the difficulty of a potential transition to a phone ban.

“The reason why I [joined the committee is because] I have not heard any, up until this point, virtually any administrator talking about the impact [of a cell phone ban],” Rothstein said. “If all of a sudden the state, in May, says that we need to ban cellphones, there needs to be a huge plan in place for that.”

Rothstein said he supported a ban because of the distraction phones pose to students.

“I do not think it’s a big ask to try and have a cell phone-free school from the hours that [the school is] open,” Rothstein said.

Every week before school, English teacher Eric Colburn, social studies teacher Sam Dickerman and former Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Gary Shiffman protest outside of 115 Greenough. Colburn said schools across the country have been implementing bans, and they wanted to draw attention to the cause.

“Cambridge is doing it. Newton is doing it. New York is doing it. Florida is doing it. It’s going to happen, and we should just do it sooner,” Colburn said.

Freshman Sandy Xu is a member of the Legislature committee on cellphone policy. She said she does not think the argument that phone usage in school causes mental health issues is valid, since students can still use their phones outside of school.

“The bill just says that the phones are a bad influence, and they should not be used at all during school, which is a time for focus,” Xu said. “But that doesn’t make sense, because they also argue that you shouldn’t be on your phone during free blocks.”

Colburn said he has experienced fewer issues with phones in his freshman English classes.

“I think it’s possibly because middle schools have cracked down a little bit, and so kids are used to not having a phone in class. There’s not that expectation,” Colburn said. “And I think, also, kids seem to be more aware than they were in previous years that phones are not that great for them, and so it might be better not to have your phone.”

Although she is unsure of the specific phone policies in the K-8 schools around Brookline, Williams said the restrictions are intended to ensure phones do not pose a distraction during the school day.

“It’s a real anomaly when a kid has their phone out in the hallway [in the K-8 schools], because that’s technically not allowed, whereas here, one of the things that our ninth grade is kind of geeked about, is the opportunity to have their phone out in their passing time through the hallways, which is unique and new and different experience for them,” Williams said.

If the bill does not pass in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Rothstein said he does not think there will be any changes to the high school’s current phone policy.

“Ultimately, I would argue that the administration probably really doesn’t want to deal with the enforcement, and that’s really the biggest issue,” Rothstein said.

No matter what happens on the state level, Williams said she hopes less use of PEDs in schools will lead to stronger attention to the present moment for the future.

“Enforcing rules [is] really difficult when the folks that you’re trying to enforce the rules with don’t quite understand the ‘why,’” Williams said. “I think our job is really about the articulation of why and how it’s beneficial to all of us to be present in a particular way, especially when we’re learning, especially when we’re growing in an art or language or a discipline that is new to us.”

Xu said the Legislature committee hopes to inform people that things will change next year. She said the committee is unsure how students will respond.

“We’re making sure that the students are getting heard as well. And I’ve been talking to my friends about it, and they say they don’t mind having their phone taken away,” Xu said. “They just don’t want [phones] to be forcibly taken into the main office.”