The Alamance-Burlington school system may join other North Carolina public school systems in preemptively prohibiting ABSS students from using cell phones in their classes – ahead of a potential state law that would require public school systems to adopt policies limiting students’ access to their phones in school – in order to minimize distractions during class time.
ABSS superintendent Dr. Aaron Fleming floated the possibility of a “phone-free schools initiative” during the school board’s latest work session Tuesday afternoon.
The phone-free schools initiative, however, wasn’t listed on the school board’s meeting agenda. Nor did the superintendent or school board give any indication that a vote on a “phone-free schools initiative” is imminent, though legislation filed earlier this year could impose statewide limits on K-12 students’ access to cell phones in school if signed into law by Gov. Josh Stein.
Fleming told school board members Tuesday afternoon that representatives from a California-based company, Yondr, which specializes in creating “phone-free environments,” discussed a possible pilot program at a meeting with ABSS principals last week.
Under the Yondr program, ABSS students would be assigned a secure bag with a magnet lock to store their cell phones, laptops, and wireless accessories during class time, Fleming said during the work session.
“We will bring that forward to you once we have a [cost estimate],” the superintendent said, referring to the potential cost for the secure, locking bags and/or any other costs related to the Yondr program. “It is something I may ask the board for support on, maybe as a pilot.”
There are three reasons for considering limiting ABSS students’ access to cell phones during class time, Fleming told The Alamance News after the work session. Cell phones are widely-documented as creating distractions that interfere with learning; and when students are not engaged in class, that means teachers have to take time away from instruction to redirect their focus.
Fleming also pointed to numerous studies showing a correlation between the ubiquitousness of cell phones in schools and negative behaviors – from bullying to potentially lethal threats, such as false reports of active shooters disseminated via cell phones throughout U.S. public school systems in recent years.
For instance, 182 schools in 28 states had received false reports about active shooters over a single month during the fall of 2022, multiple media outlets reported at the time.
Fleming described the Yondr program “as a solution that would allow students to keep their cell phones with them during the school day” while also reducing distractions in class and eliminating the need for school administrators to confiscate cell phones from students who violate school policy.
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An existing ABSS policy permits students to possess cell phones and other wireless communication devices while on school property as long as they are not activated, used, or visible during class time. The current policy also gives teachers the discretion to let their students use cell phones and other wireless devices for instruction – but only with their teachers’ supervision.
A separate portion of the same policy also gives ABSS the latitude, if necessary, to prohibit students from using cell phones and other wireless devices when they interfere with the safe operation of school buses. The policy contains a blanket prohibition on elementary and middle school students using any wireless communication devices during after-school programs.
Companion bills filed in state house and senate
Meanwhile, both chambers of the General Assembly have passed companion bills earlier this spring that would limit public school students’ access to cell phones during class time, starting with the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
North Carolina senators voted 41-1 in early March to approve a bill requiring public school systems and charter schools to create policies that prohibit students from using or having any wireless device – including laptop computers, tablets, and accessories such as earbuds – activated during class.
The state house voted 114-3 in late March to pass a bill that would only allow students to have access to their cell phones during classes if required for instruction and/or to manage a “documented medical condition,” according to the proposed Cell Phone-Free Education bill. The house bill, unlike the senate version, would apply only to cell phones.
Approximately 77 of the state’s 115 public school systems currently have policies limiting students’ use of cell phones during the school day, The Charlotte Observer reported earlier this year.
Twenty-one states have passed laws requiring school systems to ban or limit K-12 students’ use of cell phones while in school, according to a recent analysis by Education Week.
Arguments for and against access to cell phones in school
Meanwhile, social scientists – notably, Jonathan Haidt in his bestseller, The Anxious Generation – have documented a rise in social and mental health problems, as well as sleep deprivation and attention fragmentation that they believe tracks with an increase in adolescents’ use of smartphones and social media since the mid-2000s.
ABSS officials told the newspaper after the work session Tuesday afternoon that Chatham County school officials implemented the Yondr program at the start of the current 2024-25 school year and are now seeing a decline in the number of failing grades that their students are receiving.
Proponents of restricting students’ access to cell phones during instructional time generally say they believe that minimizing distractions during class time will boost academic performance.
Approximately 68 percent of U.S. adults said they support banning middle and high school students from using cell phones during class, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in the fall of 2024.
A separate poll conducted by the National Parents Union in September 2024 indicated that 78 percent of parents polled wanted their children to have access to their cell phones during the school day in case there was an emergency.
The National Association of Educators (i.e., the national teachers’ union) reported in October 2024 that 90 percent of its members support policies limiting students’ access to cell phones and other wireless device during class time.
ABSS chief communications officer Emily-Lynn Adkins emphasized in a subsequent interview after the work session that the discussion about limiting students’ use of cell phones is still very preliminary.
“This will not happen overnight,” Adkins said Tuesday. “This will have to be [in] coordination with staff and families. We don’t have all the answers right now – that’s for sure.”
