More than 200,000 students at one of the largest school districts in the nation have started the school year with a major change: no cellphone use allowed. “I’ve noticed such a big difference in the classroom.

The Rancho Santa Fe School District board is taking steps to ban all student cell phones and smartwatches on the R. Roger Rowe School campus.

Students and cell phones, it’s one of the biggest debates for school administrators, teachers, parents and students. And now, another Tennessee school district is joining the growing list of school districts to ban the devices.

It’s no surprise that students are pushing back on cell phone bans in classrooms. But school administrators in one South Florida county working to pull students’ eyes away from their screens are facing some resistance from another group as well – parents.

Since the beginning of the 2024 school year in August, students in Broward County Public Schools, the country's sixth largest district, have been barred from using cellphones during the school day, including during lunch and breaks,