North Carolina told its schools to put phones away during class, but the phones did not get the memo. A statewide law gave districts and charter schools until Jan. 1, 2026 to adopt policies that bar student phone use during instructional time. Early data, though, suggests a big gap between what is written in handbooks and what actually happens in classrooms, and that gap is forcing teachers, parents and school boards to wrestle with how far they are really willing to go to enforce the rules.
As reported by The News & Observer, UNC researchers surveyed 2,293 middle school students and 293 teachers and found that about 60.7% of students said they were following their school's device policy since the ban took effect, while roughly 39.7% said they sometimes or never follow it. The same report found that 62.9% of schools said they "always" enforce their device rules, yet enforcement looked very different from district to district and from one grade level to another.
How Students Are Using Phones During the School Day
National data from a study produced with the University of North Carolina's Winston Center and the safety firm Aura and summarized in JAMA Network Open shows students log nearly an hour of phone use during the school day, with about three-quarters of that time spent on social media and entertainment. Using de-identified phone-usage logs from more than 11,000 students, the analysis underscores how much in-school screen time has nothing to do with schoolwork. Those findings track with what classroom teachers tell researchers: even after new policies roll out, they still see heavy, distracting phone use during class.
Law Leaves the Details to Local Boards
The enacted Session Law 2025-38 requires school governing bodies to prohibit students from using, displaying or having wireless communication devices turned on during instructional time. It gave boards until Jan. 1, 2026 to adopt those policies and carved out teacher-authorized uses along with medical and IEP-related exceptions. The law also directs districts to submit their policies to the Department of Public Instruction, which must report each October on district compliance to the legislature. In practice, districts have tried a range of tactics, from charging stations and teacher-managed pouches to stricter bell-to-bell rules, as they work to balance safety, access and classroom control, according to WUNC.
Patches, Workarounds and Teacher Strain
The UNC survey, as reported by The News & Observer, found students in the state sample spent more than two hours on their phones at school on average, with nearly a third of the school day logged as phone time and more than 70% of those minutes going to social media and entertainment. About 34% of students said they use workarounds to access content blocked by school filters, and teachers told researchers that device use adds to classroom stress, with roughly 53.5% reporting moderate, some or little stress tied to students' personal device use. Those dynamics help explain why some districts have opted for strict confiscation rules while others are testing less punitive, teacher-led systems to keep phones in check.
Parents, Safety and the Gray Area
Administrators say parental expectations complicate enforcement, since many families still expect to be able to reach their children directly in the middle of the school day. Districts are trying to preserve emergency access while cutting down on distraction. Governor Josh Stein has publicly backed phone-free classrooms and convened teachers to share what is working in practice, saying teachers and districts should tailor enforcement to local circumstances. His office hosted a teacher roundtable in January to talk through the rollout. With national data, state survey results and local experiments all in play, school leaders are watching both compliance numbers and classroom outcomes closely.
What Comes Next
State officials will get a clearer picture as districts submit their policies and the Department of Public Instruction files its annual compliance report each October, as required by the Session Law. Lawmakers, school boards and parents are likely to use that report, along with on-the-ground experience, to decide whether districts need more resources, different enforcement tools or a stricter bell-to-bell rule. For now, the fight in North Carolina is over how to turn a law into everyday classroom practice without compromising safety or students' legitimate needs.
