A cellphone ban in Maine schools seems to help students pay attention in class and interact more with peers, teachers and school officials, per a local outlet. The policy has led to positive changes since it took effect.
The statewide rule was passed under a law championed by Governor Janet Mills that bans K-12 schools from using cellphones and other internet-connected electronic devices during the school day, from first bell to dismissal. Exceptions are allowed for medical reasons.
The policy took effect on August 1, 2026, and is meant to reduce classroom distractions and build stronger in-person connections with students.
Educators in Maine report that students pay more attention, stay on task longer and do more work in class.
School staff say hallway and cafeteria conversations have become livelier because students used to look at their phones more.
Teachers Report Better Classroom Focus and More Student Interaction
At Bangor High School, graphic arts teacher Eric Hutchins said students are paying more attention since the school instituted stricter cellphone restrictions last year. He also noted that students are finishing more classroom projects.
The new system has made it easier for teachers to enforce the rules. Instead of collecting phones at the start of every class, students now put them in lockboxes at the start of school and retrieve them at the end of class. Hutchins said that saves about five minutes per class.
Andrew McCullough, an environmental science teacher at Brunswick High School, described the improvements as a “breath of fresh air”.
Outside of school too, teachers have noticed a change in behavior. Without phones between lessons, students are more likely to chat with classmates instead of immediately checking their devices when the bell rings.
McCullough also said it’s hard to expect teenagers to resist social media on their own. He said even students who do well in school may not be able to put their phones down and adults face similar problems.
Students Appear To Be Adjusting To The Restrictions
While some students initially resisted tighter cellphone rules, school staff say the response has been more cooperative than expected.
Jonathan Bisson, a senior at Brunswick High School, says he instinctively reached for his phone after his first class only to realize it was locked away for the day. The alarm didn’t last long.
“My phone was out of my head and I didn’t really think about not having it,” Bisson said in a statement to The Maine Monitor.
He said the ban hasn’t altered his daily routine much. Bisson plays jazz band and cross country and is editor-in-chief of his school newspaper. Bisson said some classmates who once criticized restrictions now support them. He also said some classmates “who were against it before” are now supporting them.
Harsher penalties for violations may also help schools enforce the policy. At Brunswick, disciplinary action can range from a warning to a meeting with parents for repeated offences.
As of October 15, no Brunswick High School student had been required to attend such a meeting with school administrators and parents, McCullough said. Bangor High School had only two or three cellphone violations as of October 7; its two middle schools had none.
Some Students Still Find Ways To Use Their Phones
Despite these claims, the ban has not eliminated cellphone use during school hours.
Some students still keep their devices in backpacks or on them; they check them in bathrooms or during lunch. Teachers have also found smartwatches and other internet-connected devices more difficult to monitor.
At Belfast Area High School, administrators had another problem when students were using school Chromebooks to access the online game’s chatroom, with anonymous posts including bullying and racial slurs.
The experience shows that restricting access to smartphones may address one source of distraction but not every digital safety concern schools face.
What Parents Should Know About School Phone Bans
The restrictions have also raised concerns among parents used to calling their children directly throughout the school day.
But families said they had found other ways to communicate. Parents contact their children through school offices or email; some schools let students get their phones back quickly in emergencies.
One parent, Andy Badeaux, who has two children at Brunswick High School, said he supported measures that would improve classroom work but added that cellphone reception at the school was already poor, so reaching his kids by phone was hard.
For parents, Maine gives an early look at how stricter school cellphone policies may impact students’ learning environments and social interactions. Teachers and administrators have reported encouraging changes in classroom attention and face-to-face communication.
Still, these reports reflect observations from schools in the policy’s early months, not a long-term assessment of academic performance or student well-being. How those changes develop over time remains to be seen.
