Mark Herz: This is GBH's Morning Edition. The new school year has started this week in several districts. Many others return next week. And one top-of-mind issue in the classroom this year is the use of cellphones at school. State lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban all Massachusetts public school students from using or holding on to their cellphones during the school day.

Some districts already have their own classroom cellphone bans in place, including Newton Public Schools, which implemented the rule last school year. To hear how it's been going, we're joined by Newton Superintendent Anna Nolin. Good morning, Anna!

Anna Nolin: Good morning, Mark.

Herz: Tell us about this cellphone policy in your district. How does it work and how did it come about?

Nolin: So in what might be said to be a divisive time in education, Newton families, teachers and students all were in agreement about a year ago that cellphones had become a distraction in so many ways. And the community came together on an ad-hoc committee to draft a policy that would totally eliminate cellphones K-8 and would have elimination of cellphones during class periods for high school students. So I have to say it was really one of the easiest programs to implement — very much an agreement moment for all parties in the Newton community.

Herz: So tell us how it's been going. You've got at least three interested parties here. You've got parents, and students and teachers — and you say this was easy to do, but those interests aren't always completely aligned, are they?

Nolin: No, I mean, certainly our young people were sort of raging against the new regime in the beginning — especially our middle school kids who are really the most affected and addicted to the technology. For the year prior to the policy being implemented last year, at one of middle schools we had piloted one of the magnetic pouch security systems for the cellphones at our day middle school, and it was wildly successful. There was a two-week period of upset teenagers and worried parents. You know, “How can I get in touch with my child if something happens during the day?” And then it was blissful compliance. And it's been really helpful, and it has also helped to build independence in our to K-8 learners because their parents are not texting them 30 million times a day: “Did you hand in your homework?" "Did you eat your lunch?” All of these things that really need to be taken on by young people as they are growing independence skills.

Herz: When you visit a classroom before the ban, after the ban, what do you see — what's the difference?

Nolin: I'll tell you, it's not the classroom per se. I mean, I would rarely as a visitor see an absolute showdown between a teacher and a kid — although I was a middle school principal for many years, I remember them well. That said, what I would see different was what happened in those down times at school. So running between classes, being in the cafeteria, homeroom advisory, those times that were organic social experiences where children learn to interact with each other, take on social challenges and social celebrations. Those are foreclosed when a student's nose is in their text messages. And that's the biggest difference that I see, the organic young people hanging out, being just silly kids at times, daydreaming, chatting, passing notes, all those things that we have taken for granted as part of our childhood, but have completely gone away with the cellphones at play in schools.

Herz: Well, based on your experience having had a cellphone ban in place already, if school leaders are thinking of making the switch and having a phone-free classroom, what would you advise them or tell them that you've learned from your year doing it?

Nolin: There needs to be some significant parent education. Parents have become used to being tethered to their young people by texting many, many times a day and just having on-demand access to their young person. Parents are really the bigger challenge. They need to make space for the child to have their independent school identity, and trust that the school is going to keep them safe and that no child is going to be left alone or without resources should there be some sort of emergency. That really has been the biggest hurdle.

Herz: Well, Newton Public Schools Superintendent Anna Nolin, thank you and best wishes for a successful school year.

Nolin: Have a great start everyone.

Herz: You're listening to GBH.

As the new school year begins for districts in Massachusetts, one top-of-mind issue this year is the use of cell phones at school.

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban all Massachusetts public school students from using or holding on to their cellphones during the day, starting in the 2026-27 school year.

The measure passed through the Massachusetts Senate in July, to be later taken up by the House.

Some districts already have their own school cellphone bans in place, including Newton Public Schools, which implemented the rule for the 2024-25 school year.

Newton Public Schools Superintendent Anna Nolin said the community came together on an ad-hoc committee last year to draft a policy that totally eliminates cellphones for K-8 students, and eliminates cellphones during class periods for high school students.

“In what might be said to be a divisive time in education, Newton families, teachers and students all were in agreement about a year ago that cellphones had become a distraction in so many ways,” she said.

Nolin added that the adjustment was most difficult for middle school students, who are “the most affected and addicted to the technology.”

“There was a two-week period of upset teenagers and worried parents. You know, 'How can I get in touch with my child if something happens during the day?’ And then it was blissful compliance,“ she said.

Along with reducing distractions for children, Nolin cited that a cellphone-free school policy also helped young people improve their self-reliance.

”Because their parents are not texting them 30 million times a day: 'Did you hand in your homework?’ 'Did you eat your lunch?’” she said. “All of these things that really need to be taken on by young people as they are growing independence skills.”

When asked about the main differences from the year before the policy, Nolin cited a key change outside the classroom.

“So running between classes, being in the cafeteria, homeroom advisory, those times that were organic social experiences where children learn to interact with each other, take on social challenges and social celebrations — those are foreclosed when a student’s nose is in their text messages,” she said. “And that’s the biggest difference that I see, the organic young people hanging out, being just silly kids at times, daydreaming, chatting, passing notes, all those things that we have taken for granted as part of our childhood, but have completely gone away with the cellphones at play in schools.”

A 2024 study out of Auburn University found that removing cellphones from students possession during the school day improved social interaction in class between students — including students helping others with assignments.

“Adolescence is the time second only to the first year of life where the brain and the body go through significant changes and neural pathways are impacted by a lot of things, for good and for bad,” Nolin said. “And in this case, especially with coming out of post-COVID isolation periods, that dopamine hit of social media and technology has really become so so alluring to our middle schoolers that it has gotten in the way of them exploring new and other activities and therein developing more of those neural pathways that we count on them to work on during adolescence.”

Other districts have also implemented cellphone bans for some or all students, including Brockton, Lowell, Methuen, Salem, Needham and Fall River.

For districts that are considering a cellphone ban in schools, Nolin recommends bulking up parent education.

“Parents have become used to being tethered to their young people by texting many, many times a day and just having on-demand access to their young person,” she said. “They need to make space for the child to have their independent school identity, and trust that the school is going to keep them safe and that no child is going to be left alone or without resources should there be some sort of emergency.”