A new law banning phones in schools is the right step for NC students

This opinion piece first appeared in The Charlotte Observer, July 2, 2025.

House Bill 959, which Gov. Josh Stein signed into law Tuesday, is a step toward fixing a major issue facing North Carolina youth: generational smartphone addiction. The bill implements a ban on cellphone use during class time in schools. Cell phone use already is somewhat monitored on school grounds, but it is important for North Carolina to standardize crucial patterns of behavior. Regulating the presence of phones in schools is critical. According to a 2024 survey from the Pew Research Center, 72% of teachers said cell phones were a major problem. Cell phone use is a powerful force in the mental development of children. In 2018, a National Institutes of Health study showed that children who had a screen time of over two hours a day scored lower on language and thinking tests. There were some children with over seven hours who experienced thinning of parts of their brain linked to thinking and reasoning. The behavioral effects run deep. A 2020 study also showed a negative link between smartphone addiction and memory retention.

Numerous school districts across North Carolina, including Granville County and Chatham County, have already found ways to successfully implement phone restrictions. Standardizing it across the state in a single stroke ensures the state is moving towards a common goal. At least 26 states already require school districts to ban or restrict students’ use of cellphones in schools. The role of a school is to educate students, but also to teach them useful habits. Regulating phone usage is less of a suppression or a restraint and more of a taming of dopamine-controlled habits. If we teach children the patterns of how to control their attention, there’s a good chance they will carry that through the rest of their lives. The bill allows for important exceptions to the rule. Phones can be used in emergency situations and if a teacher permits it. There are also more specific medical and educational exceptions. As someone who grew up in the era of smartphones, I felt firsthand how they changed the educational process. My generation took the attention-crushing brunt of social media and short form content at similar ages. We always had phones, but we watched as the problem got worse when content got more addictive. My generation knows the feeling of an empty and ravaged mind when you were away from your phone as a child. The bill does seem to take some steps that are a little unnecessary, such as the regulation of “wireless communication devices,” which includes two-way radios and pagers. I can’t say I’ve heard of an elementary school student using a pager or analog radio in class. The methods of restraining phone use is unspecified. I could see the possibility of parents having fears about reaching their children during an emergency.

Another potential downside: Public school teachers have a lot on their plate already, and the bill would also require them to teach social media literacy lessons to students on a regular basis. The lessons would be required every year for elementary and middle schoolers and twice a year for high schoolers. Beyond that, however, the law is a little vague. It does not specify what those lessons should include, nor does it outline training for teachers and staff who will be responsible for delivering the lessons to students. That could put a burden on teachers who will already have to shoulder much of the burden of enforcing the ban in the classroom. It’s important, more than ever, to keep the best parts of modernity and taper it with guardrails that prevent the bad. A child’s perception of reality is so fragile, and keeping a mind in line with reality is critical. Parents will have more attentive children, teachers will be able to teach and students will build good habits. This bill is a step in the right direction. Involvement and attention are worth fighting for.

Alex Nettles is a rising senior at Elon University and an intern for the North Carolina Opinion team.