On Thursday, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed a bill that would officially ban cellphones in all schools across the state. The bill was somewhat vague, simply disallowing phones but leaving the enforcement and punishment up to the respective Board of Education or school. One thing to note is that the bill specifically states that punishment “may include” confiscation, though it is not required. 

Ten states have already passed bills like this. The first was Florida, becoming a pioneer of a much greater movement. The most recent have been both Tennessee and North Carolina. In Illinois, there have been talks of implementing something similar. 

Wake County has left its phone policy punishments mostly up to the school, and its current policy involves a warning system where phones are confiscated after one warning to put it away has already been issued, and further action is taken for the next incidents. 

One student, Anish Nagelli, was interested to know about the ways phones would be confiscated. Some schools utilize Yondr Pouches which utilize magnetic locks, while others have more traditional means of a drawer, box, or even just on the teacher’s desk. 

I also had the opportunity to talk to an Apex High School Social Studies teacher, Mr. Kane. Mr. Kane said that his current phone policy is that he “wants students to be engaged with me during direct instructions” but during work time devices are allowed as educational resources.

When I asked Mr. Kane about the new bill he said, “I think that there are good parts and bad parts to it,” specifically highlighting the crux that is implementing it across a variety of counties and schools.
He emphasized throughout that Apex High School already fits the requirements the bill instated. It is likely that the bill will not change much at Apex, but it surely will have a large impact on the rest of North Carolina and is a step in the right direction in minimizing distractions in schools.