The Minnesota legislature passed an Education Bill in this year's session which contained a requirement that school districts create policy to address cell phone use in schools. Those policies have to be in place by March 15, 2025.
Minnesota students will have to get used new policies relating to using their phones in school.
"It's not an easy issue to tackle," says Scott Croonquist Executive Director of the Association of Metropolitan schools.
He says there's research that shows the negative impact that phones have on students.
"So there is growing support I think to try to limit or at least put parameters around the use of phones during school day," says Croonquist.
That it is likely to be a challenge he adds.
"You know, of course, enforcement gets to be an issue here," Croonquist says. "You know, how do you really enforce this when you have a high school, maybe of over 1,000 students?"
But in some districts that have already made changes, Croomquist explains that they've already seen positive results.
"They said, 'you know what, we are supportive of it, we actually found that now we actually talk to each other as students and carry on conversations that we didn't before."
Maple Grove Middle School has a no cell phone use policy for students during the school day.
“We instantly noticed that it was a game changer,” Maple Grove Middle School Principal Patrick Smith said during debate on the bill. “The culture and climate of our building, our students were happy, they weren’t looking at their phones during the hallway or at lunchtime. They were talking to each other.”
“The more we understand about cell phones in schools, the more it is clear that we need to be proactive, collaborative and thoughtful in how and when their use is permitted,” said Rep. Sandra Feist (DFL-New Brighton), the bill sponsor.