Maine banned cellphones in schools to help teens focus and connect. Consensus is it’s working
Jonathan Bisson walked through the double doors at Brunswick High School for his first day of the academic year in August. As a senior, the hallways felt familiar — except for a white, rectangular box by the door of his first class. The box was knee height on small wheels and contained about 25 slots where students could insert their phones at the start of the day. The boxes are meant to help students comply with a new district policy spurred by recent state law prohibiting phone use in school. Phone restrictions in class were nothing new, Bisson said. Many of his teachers last year required students to place their phones in small plastic pouches hung on the door or wall. His band teacher even used this as a way to gauge attendance: An empty pouch likely meant an absent student, he said. But this year students in Brunswick and across Maine don’t get their phones back after each class.…