Starting next year, all schools across Nevada will be required to implement some form of a cell phone ban after the legislature passed Senate Bill 444.
As we've been reporting, some school districts are already ahead of the game.
Following a successful pilot run last spring semester, the Washoe County School Board adopted their new "Phone Away Learn Today" policy. And they're not the only district seeing a positive change in their schools after enforcing new restrictions.
Cell phones have been a long-time issue in schools. But, with increased screen addiction and the broader options of other devices like smart watches and headphones, it became a growing concern.
"At lunch we started seeing misbehavior, kids filming certain things, or antisocial behavior," said Kevin Arnold, Principal of Billinghurst Middle School.
Matt Morgan, Dean of Carson High School, says, "Kids would have headphones connected to their phones, not listening to what was going on in class, and then the bigger issue in the class itself was the constant battle between teachers and students over phones."
You may remember us reporting when Carson City School District implemented their policy a couple years ago. Students are required to lock their phones in special pouches that restrict the phone's signal.
Meanwhile, Washoe County's new policy requires students to leave their phones in their lockers during all school hours.
Haley Vlastelicia, 6th grade teacher at Billinghurst Middle, says, "It's really nice not having those negative interactions of taking phones since they stay in their lockers and it's wasting less class time."
If students were to try and break the rules, Washoe County gives them a warning and then takes their phone on the second offense.
Teachers in Carson City just email their administrators who then come in and quietly take the phone and hold it in the office until end of day.
Luckily, both districts say they haven't seen much push back. In fact, some students are saying they don't mind it.
Aniston Dang, 6th grader at Billinghurst, says, "I feel like it's a fair and valid point, but I'd still like to use my phone during lunch."
"It's okay because sometimes you get too focused on your phone and then you miss your classes," says Lucas Jia, a classmate of Dang's.
Kyle Allen, senior student body president at Carson High School, says "We are seeing more communication between the students, we're seeing greater engagement in the classrooms, we're seeing less recordings of fights."
"I've seen more people actually talking and actually having fun with each other and it's honestly kind of a great thing to see instead of people on their phones," Nate Freed, a student at Carson High said.
Both school districts say if a parent needs to reach out to their student for any reason, they can call the school office.
If schools do end up in a lockdown both districts will immediately notify families and allow students access to their phones if deemed necessary.
