Banning cellphones in schools

 Time -  Two years ago, banning phones in schools seemed almost unthinkable. Now, thanks in part to parents’ organizing efforts, support for phone-free schools is rising quickly levels in a country that can’t seem to agree on much else. A Pew Research Center study in July found that 74% of U.S. adults now support preventing middle schoolers and high schoolers from using their phones during class, up from 68% last year, while 44% support banning phones for the entire school day, up from 36%. Roughly two-thirds of Americans think phone-free schools would improve students’ social skills, grades, and behavior in class.

State lawmakers from both parties are listening. As of this summer, 37 states have banned cell phones and other internet-connected devices during class. About half of those states and D.C. are phone-free from “bell-to-bell,” which keeps kids from accessing their phones during lunch and between classes. Republican states like Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have passed bell-to-bell laws, while deep-blue New York just became the largest state to go phone-free for the entire school day starting this fall.