North Dakota receives highest score in nation for most comprehensive phone-free school law
In the first annual “Phone-Free Schools State Report Card,” only two states — North Dakota and Rhode Island — earned an “A” for enacting comprehensive, statewide phone-free school laws.
The Report Card, produced by The Anxious Generation, Smartphone Free Childhood US, the Institute for Families and Technology, and the Becca Schmill Foundation, evaluates state policies against a model framework that calls for bell-to-bell prohibition, off-person storage, limited exceptions, and enforceable compliance mechanisms.
The research and practitioner testimony cited in the Report Card reinforces what many parents and teachers already know intuitively: when phones are removed from classrooms for the school day, disruptions decrease and student engagement improves.
States received top marks for policies that require bell-to-bell restrictions and mandate that phones be stored out of reach and out of sight for the entire school day.
North Dakota’s state law met those standards, receiving the highest score in the nation. Its law includes defined legal and medical exemptions, clear enforcement mechanisms, and protections to ensure that safety and instructional flexibility are preserved.
“Although nearly every state has enacted some form of restrictions on phones, many of the laws fall short of driving meaningful change,” according to the Report Card. “Just as states set uniform standards for safety, wellness, and clean environments in schools, it’s time to do the same for digital health, recognizing that smartphone use poses both public health and educational challenges.”
Currently, 18 states plus the District of Columbia have statewide full bell-to-bell bans in effect or being implemented. A handful of other states require restrictions on device use during instructional time only (versus a full-day prohibition). While the U.S. doesn’t have a federal mandate on phone restrictions, the growing number of state initiatives increasingly aligns with global trends, where regulating cell phone use in schools is a worldwide occurrence.
