Draper families heading into the 2026-27 school year face two different cellphone rules depending on which district their children attend.

Alpine School District, which serves the Utah County side of Draper, adopted a full bell-to-bell ban across all 90 of its schools, matching the new state default set by Senate Bill 69. Canyons School District banned phones for elementary and junior high students but still allows them at high schools, according to a KSL survey published Aug. 20.

Canyons enrolls about 32,700 students across 50 schools, including Corner Canyon High School and Draper Park Middle School.

Gov. Spencer Cox signed SB69 on March 18, making a bell-to-bell ban the default for every public school district in the state. The law expanded Utah's 2025 restriction under Senate Bill 178, which barred phones only during class periods but still allowed use at lunch and between classes.

Districts can opt out, but they must act deliberately. State Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, who sponsored SB69, told Deseret Magazine that districts wanting a looser policy must do so on their own initiative.

Rich Nye, senior education adviser to Gov. Cox, told Deseret Magazine in a Tuesday, Sept. 8, feature: "The question is one of balance. Technology is powerful when used appropriately and equally devastating when it is used inappropriately."

At Corner Canyon High School, the 2024-25 personal technology policy required phones to be "silent and out of sight unless invited" during class but permitted use between periods and at lunch. Whether that policy changes under SB69 remains unclear. The Canyons School District board received a technology-use policy update at its Aug. 18 meeting, noting that state guidelines are still pending.

The law requires schools to exempt students with special needs, health conditions or emergencies.

Early results from districts that moved first suggest the restrictions are reducing discipline problems. Ogden school principals told KSL that fighting incidents dropped 45% and cyberbullying fell 65% at schools that piloted phone bans.

Granger High School in Granite School District used Yondr pouches for a full bell-to-bell ban. Fights decreased 50% and the school recorded its lowest student failure rates in five years, according to the Draper Journal.

Alpine School District surveyed about 4,500 parents and 4,700 students on its phone restrictions. Parents were generally supportive, citing increased focus and better learning. Some students reported lower grades tied to stress without phone access, while others said their focus improved, according to the district.

A 2025 study by Australian researchers published in the journal Psychological Bulletin found short-form video exposure "associated with poorer cognition," including attention, language and memory. A Canyons District podcast episode published March 4 cited Utah Department of Health and Human Services data showing 80% of Utah students ages 12 to 18 spend at least two hours daily on social media, gaming or texting.

Not everyone agrees. Royce Kimmons, who chairs the department of educational leadership and foundations at Brigham Young University, told Deseret Magazine he is wary of technology becoming a scapegoat. Kimmons said students need to develop literacy and self-discipline around technology, and that total bans do them a disservice.

Fillmore also helped pass a related bill requiring districts to track student usage on state-provided devices. The Canyons board has not announced a date for a final vote on its updated technology-use policy.