‘They’re distracting’: Schools lock up phones as kids struggle to pay attention in class

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – Schools around the U.S. are banning the usage of phones in the classroom, arguing that the devices are distracting students, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Locking up or disabling phones in classrooms is a policy being implemented by thousands of schools around the U.S., as educators and lawmakers grow concerned about the issue, according to WSJ. States such as Indiana and Florida have passed laws prohibiting the usage of phones in class, and other states are considering them, but some parents are saying they need “open lines of communication” with their children. 

“Having open lines of communication with our kids is something that we are really comfortable with, accustomed to, and we’re not willing to give that up,” Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, which advocates for keeping phones in the classroom, told the WSJ.

Massachusetts created $800,000 in grants this academic year to help school districts implement phone restrictions in classrooms, according to the WSJ. Connecticut legislation currently being considered would create a policy for phone limits in schools.

Montgomery Public Schools started using magnetically locked storage pouches to store phones in 2024, and said fighting and misbehavior have dropped nearly 24%, according to the WSJ.

Schools around the U.S. have been struggling with a host of different issues after COVID-19.

Teacher absences around the country are spiking as learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, and a shortage of substitute teachers continues to affect the school system. U.S. students’ math scores dropped 13 points in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment compared to the results from 2018, and almost 70% of students in the country went to schools experiencing chronic absenteeism during the 2021-2022 school year.

A bill currently in Congress would study the effects of phones on children in the classroom if passed, according to the WSJ.

“We hear from teachers all the time that they’re distracting,” Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who is encouraging schools to ban phones up until eighth grade, told the WSJ.