At David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, the rule is that students must keep their cellphones out of sight during class. In reality, the teachers tasked with enforcing the rule are no match for teenagers鈥� 鈥渁lmost compulsive鈥� need to be on their phones all the time, said science teacher Noelle Gilzow.

Gilzow confiscates offenders鈥� devices and drops them in a basket on her desk she calls the 鈥減hone jail.鈥� But she knows that she is fighting a losing battle.

鈥淚 cannot compete with Netflix,鈥� she said.

More than three-quarters of U.S. K-12 public schools prohibit non-academic cellphone use, according to a from the 2021-2022 school year. But only 43% of public high schools have such a rule. And at many of them, like at Hickman High, the so-called bans are enforced weakly, if at all.

Last year, Florida became the first state to to bar students from using their phones during class. Now governors and legislators in at least a half-dozen other states are pushing their schools to follow suit 鈥� through persuasion or by law.

Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb just signed into law a that requires school districts to prohibit cellphone use during instructional time, with some exceptions. A is advancing in Oklahoma, and legislation has been introduced in and .

Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont has praised schools in his state that have restricted cellphone use, and he has that would direct the state board of education to adopt a model policy.

鈥淪ocial media is often anti-social, and too much smartphone makes you stupid,鈥� Lamont said in his State of the State address this year.

In Utah, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox in January throughout the state urging them to get cellphones out of class.

鈥淧lacing cellphones in backpacks or lockers during class time allows students to give their undivided attention to lessons, to fully participate in discussions and to build relationships with their peers,鈥� Cox wrote in an opinion piece . 鈥淥ur students deserve every advantage and removing cellphones from learning time is one proven way we can help our children succeed.鈥�

Cox and other proponents of such measures cite research showing that is a distraction, and they argue that removing them from classrooms will boost academic performance, and improve .

Not surprisingly, many students are loath to give up their phones. But much of the pushback against phone-free classrooms comes from parents, who want to be connected to their children throughout the day, especially if there is an emergency.

鈥淚 like that it鈥檚 with her all the time. I want to keep my eyes on her 24/7. I want to know where she is at all times,鈥� said Elisabeth Rice of Portland, Oregon, who has a 14-year-old daughter. 鈥淚f she leaves the school, she won鈥檛 leave her phone behind, right?鈥�

Oregon leaves it up to school districts to determine cellphone policies. The high school Rice鈥檚 daughter attends has a 鈥渟ilent and away鈥� rule for phones in class, but the device does not have to be stowed in a cubby or signal-proof pouch, which other schools require.

鈥淲e鈥檝e all seen how schools handle emergencies,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淚 would like to have a direct communication with my kid and see what the safest option is.鈥�

Eliminating distractions

To Indiana Republican state Sen. Jeff Raatz, one of the lead sponsors of the proposed ban in his state, the argument for taking phones out of the classroom boils down to one word: distraction.

He was speaking about civics at a Henry County high school last fall, he recalled in an interview, when he noticed the students were unusually attentive. It took him awhile to realize why.

鈥淚t was weeks before it dawned on me that there wasn鈥檛 a single cellphone. I was thinking, 鈥楬ow come nobody鈥檚 looking at their phone?鈥欌��

Without phones, he said, 鈥渋nstead of texting your friend, you are paying attention. We are struggling as a nation in attaining educational outcomes. One way [to help] is to eliminate distraction.鈥�

Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Adam Pugh came to the same conclusion after talking to a few classrooms recently at an Oklahoma City suburban high school. 鈥淚n every single class,鈥� he recalled, 鈥渉alf the kids were on their phones the whole time. I can鈥檛 imagine ever having a guest lecturer when I was in school and not being focused.鈥�

His would require local public school districts to develop policies banning students鈥� phones from campuses. It was not heard on the Senate floor.

A of college students in 37 states (plus Alberta, Canada) supports the assertion that digital devices distract students: On average, respondents spent 19.4% of class time using digital devices for non-class purposes.

Barney McCoy, a journalism and mass communications professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the author of the study, said it鈥檚 not surprising that students sitting in class have a hard time resisting their devices, since they are so accustomed to checking them constantly when they are outside the classroom.

鈥淚f we are standing in line at the grocery store, we are going to pull out a smartphone,鈥� McCoy said. 鈥淚f you are in the middle of a conversation and a device beeps, boops or rings, you are going to look at it.鈥�

Some research suggests that banning cellphones from class can have a significant impact. A published earlier this year examined the effect of cellphone bans on middle school students, concluding that girls鈥� grades and mental health improved significantly and that bullying declined among both girls and boys. The effects were greatest among lower-income girls.

Too broad?

鈥淚f you look at social media, if you look at what the kids are doing, a lot of the bullying we see is because of video taken on cellphones,鈥� said Kansas Republican state Rep. Adam Thomas, chair of the House Committee on Education and the father of five children.

But after Thomas鈥� committee held a hearing on the bill, he decided that districts, not the state, should decide what cellphone policy would work best for them.

Indiana state Rep. Ryan Dvorak, one of the eight House members who opposed the ban in his state, reached a similar conclusion.

鈥淭here is not a school in the state of Indiana that doesn鈥檛 have their own policy on cellphone use already,鈥� said Dvorak, a Democrat and the father of three school-age children. 鈥淭eachers deal with them every day. Every classroom has a different way their teacher likes to deal with it. I don鈥檛 like when the legislature gets involved in classroom minutia.

鈥淓verybody understands kids have problems with being sucked into devices. But creating some absolute law that says this can never happen is counterproductive.鈥�

Roni Cohen-Sandler, a clinical psychologist and the author of 鈥�,鈥� a book for parents on dealing with electronic devices, agreed that statewide bans for students of all ages don鈥檛 make sense.

鈥淭echnology is part of our kids鈥� lives,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to help them evaluate when technology is appropriate and when it鈥檚 not.鈥�

Cohen-Sandler said phones don鈥檛 have any place in elementary schools and that it is 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥� that they serve a useful function in middle school classrooms. She also said that students who text too frequently with their parents aren鈥檛 developing the ability to deal with their own feelings, 鈥渦ndermining a lot of development that is taking place and impeding kids from being resilient.鈥�

High school students, however, should be mature enough to use phones appropriately, 鈥渋n the service of learning,鈥� Cohen-Sandler said.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 infantilize 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds. I hope they have the judgment to use cellphones more responsibly.鈥�

McCoy, the Nebraska professor, said teachers should take responsibility for engaging students. 鈥淲e have to be more innovative as instructors,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how many times I鈥檝e called on a student who is engaged on their device and they will look up and say, 鈥楥an you repeat the question?鈥� That鈥檚 a challenge to myself as an instructor.鈥�

But many parents of high school students, perhaps remembering the cellphone-free days of their youth, don鈥檛 think phones have any place in the classroom.

鈥淜ids don鈥檛 need phones in school 鈥� period,鈥� said Vince Moody of Huntsville, Alabama, who has four children, including a ninth grader. Moody said that if he had to get in touch with one of them, he鈥檇 simply call the school office and leave a message.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that there are a lot of benefits to having phones in schools, other than that parents can reach their little snowflake in school,鈥� he said.

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