New Jersey, a latecomer in a growing national movement to curb distractions in classrooms, on Thursday joined a growing list of states to restrict student phones in public schools.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy signed what he called a bell-to-bell ban into law during a ceremony at Ramsey High School, 12 days before he is scheduled to leave office.
The law will take effect during the 2026-27 school year and requires education boards throughout the state to adopt rules that prohibit the use of cellphones and other “internet-enabled devices” throughout the school day. It is an effort to ensure that students are not distracted by text messages, doomscrolling, TikTok and Candy Crush during class.
The measure reached Mr. Murphy’s desk in late December after finally winning overwhelming bipartisan approval in the New Jersey Legislature, nearly a year after the governor endorsed establishing phone-free schools in his State of the State address.
“I say this as a dad of four, more so than a governor,” Mr. Murphy, a Democrat who was term-limited, said on Thursday before signing the bill. “I wish this ban had been in place a long time ago.”
The move tracks with similar efforts in about three dozen other states that have set rules restricting students’ use of phones in public schools, some of which also won’t take effect until later this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Responding to a groundswell of public support for ridding classrooms of intrusions from electronic devices, the majority of states and many cities, including New York State and New York City, have already enacted similar rules.
Educators are not the only ones embracing them.
In a survey last July, 74 percent of adults in the United States said they would support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class, according to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank.
Some students have also warmed to the idea of untethering themselves from their phones in the classroom, including at Ramsey High School, which is already phone-free.
Since last January, the school, in Bergen County, has required students to put their phones in special pouches that remain locked while in class. The school is one of several dozen across New Jersey participating in a phone-free grant program administered by the state.
“There was no buzzing in pockets,” Massimo Randazzo, a senior and the school’s student body president, said before introducing Mr. Murphy during the bill signing. “No waiting for the bell just to see who had texted.”
While the change took some getting used to and created some obstacles for communicating, he said, it was refreshing not to have the distraction.
“I assumed being separated from my phone would make the day more tense,” he said. “Instead it created a break from nonstop notifications, group chats and the pressure to always be available. The school day felt calmer and more manageable. That’s not to say everything was perfect.”
Tracey Tully contributed reporting.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
The post New Jersey Is Latest State to Ban Student Phones in Schools appeared first on New York Times.
