Defense bill blocks K-12 students from using cellphones on military bases

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The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — the key defense policy and funding legislation — will prohibit cellphones for K-12 students enrolled in schools located on military installations. This bipartisan measure, aimed at enhancing educational outcomes for the children of U.S. servicemembers, was introduced by freshman Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind.

The NDAA, a $900 billion essential defense legislation, represents a significant move towards minimizing distractions for tens of thousands of students, as per the REFOCUS DoDEA Act. The clause is co-led by Banks and his Armed Services committee counterpart Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. Their committee holds federal oversight over the schools on military bases.

In an exclusive conversation with ABC News, Banks expressed that this crucial provision has implications for national security, recruitment, and retention.

"We invest in our troops, we provide them training, we compensate them, and if they serve in the military for a decade or more and choose to leave because their children attend low-quality schools, that poses a national security concern," Banks informed ABC News.

"It's a retention dilemma," he stated, adding, "We must take action to address and enhance it."

Thomas Toch, the director of FutureEd — an educational policy center at Georgetown University, noted that cellphone prohibitions can be a “necessary measure” to enhance academic outcomes for students, including those attending military base schools.

There are over 65,000 students attending 161 schools on U.S. military bases across 11 foreign nations, seven states, and two territories (Guam and Puerto Rico), as reported by Banks.

Sen. Jim Banks exits a meeting with banking executives at the Capitol Visitors Center, Dec. 11, 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Banks, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, shared with ABC News that military families are eager to enhance the educational standards on base and have been advocating for reform.

"It's disheartening for them," Banks remarked, adding, "It's their only option, so they are urging Congress to do more to enhance the DoDEA schools."

Banks expressed his belief that the U.S. is facing a military recruitment crisis, a situation that the Trump administration has been broadly addressing within the Department of Defense, but failures in the educational systems of military base schools have deterred families from service.

"This is a minor step that I believe will yield significant results, but I hope we will attract more attention to how these schools are managed and what improvements can be made," Banks stated.

The defense legislation, termed the "Restoring Our Educational Focus on Children of U.S. Servicemembers at DoDEA," was approved 77-20 in the Senate on Wednesday. President Donald Trump enacted the bill into law on Thursday.

The Department of Defense now has a one-month period to determine how it will enforce the prohibitions.

"Not later than 30 days following the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in collaboration with the Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, shall establish regulations that prevent the use, during the school day, of smartphones by students in schools operated by the Activity," as stated in the bill text.

After the vote, Slotkin asserted that Congressional leaders have a "responsibility" to collaborate in a bipartisan manner to assist parents with effective cellphone ban guidelines.

"It is healthier and more beneficial for children not to be gazing at their phones while trying to learn," Slotkin conveyed to ABC News. "This marks the initial phase of a larger initiative aimed at banning cell phones in all K-12 schools nationwide."

Sourse: abcnews.go.com