More than one million students in the US are in for the shock of their young lives… They’re about to spend their school days without smartphones in their hands. New Jersey has signed off on a sweeping new rule that bans cell phones and smart devices across public schools, covering classrooms, school buses and all official school events. The policy takes effect from the next school year for grades K-12 and applies to roughly 1.3 million public school students. Supporters say it’s all about focus and learning. Critics warn it taps into deeper parental fears and is a major infringement of personal liberties. (Picture: Getty Images)
New Jersey isn’t acting alone on this, either. The move brings the state into line with 26 others that already enforce full day limits on student phone use. Florida was first state out of the gate on this back in 2023 and the idea’s spreading pretty fast. Alabama, Texas, New York and Wisconsin are all on the list of no-phone states, alongside states ranging from Vermont to Utah. Together, these laws cover millions of students nationwide, marking one of the most aggressive crackdowns yet on screens in American schools. (Picture: Getty Images)
NJ Governor Phil Murphy framed the law as something of a reset for classrooms that have quietly become no listening scrolling zones. ‘We are ensuring New Jersey schools are a place for learning and engagement, not distracting screens that detract from academic performance,’ he said when signing the bill on Thursday. The law applies across the board, regardless of district, replacing a patchwork of local rules that ranged from locker bans to the introduction of phone locking pouches. (Picture: Getty Images)
Murphy has argued the benefits are already clear in schools that moved early. ‘Teachers report that students are more focused, less anxious and they are socializing and laughing with each other, not through a screen, but in hallways and classrooms,’ he said. He added: ‘By getting rid of needless distractions, we are fundamentally changing our schools’ learning environments and encouraging our children to be more attentive and engaged during the school day.’ (Picture: Getty Images)
The timing isn’t accidental, either. Studies suggest teenagers now spend between a whopping 5.5 and 8.5 hours a day on their phones across all activities, with roughly 1.5 of those hours landing during school time, Daily Mail reports. Even when devices are meant to be tucked away, teachers report constant buzzing, glancing and rule bending. For lawmakers, the question shifted from whether phones were disruptive to how long schools could realistically ignore the issue. (Picture: Getty Images)
Health research has added fuel to the debate. A December 2025 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics linked early smartphone ownership to higher rates of depression, obesity and sleep deprivation. Children who had phones by age 12 were 30% more likely to show signs of depression, 40% more likely to be obese and 60% more likely to suffer from poor sleep than peers without smartphones. (Picture: Getty Images)
The risks didn’t stop with younger kids. Adolescents who received phones at 13 also showed worse mental health and reduced sleep quality. Researchers found the effects stacked up over time, with every year earlier a child received a smartphone increasing the likelihood of negative outcomes by roughly 10%. The findings have been widely cited by lawmakers pushing for tougher school rules. (Picture: Getty Images)
Not every state has gone that far. Connecticut, Kansas and Washington have issued guidance encouraging districts to act locally rather than imposing blanket bans. Others, including Illinois, Michigan and Wyoming, currently have no statewide law or formal advice in place. The result is a confusing national map where students can face radically different rules depending on which side of a state line they live. (Picture: Getty Images)
Parents remain pretty divided about the new bans. Safety concerns sit at the heart of many objections. ‘Everything is just so politicized, so divisive. And I think parents just fear what’s happening with their kids during the day,’ Shannon Moser, a New York parent, told PBS in 2023. Another parent wrote online: ‘Given the many terrifying things that can and do happen in today’s schools, something about not having a direct line to her when she’s away from me just doesn’t sit well.’ (Picture: Getty Images)Add as preferred source