(WXYZ) – As the new school year begins, more and more states across the country and individual schools are imposing cell phone bans.

Since this spring, cell phones have been banned in classrooms in Ohio, Indiana and Florida, and now individual schools there are discussing their policies as well.

“Believe it or not, when I visited a classroom about six years ago, I walked in and saw that students were actually on their phones,” said Amy Kruppe, principal of Hazel Park Schools.

In her ten years as a school principal, Kruppe has watched students’ relationships with their cell phones evolve.

“When I first came to the Hazel Park community, we were a lot more free and allowed them more learning tools and objects in the classroom, but I think we’ve noticed over time that’s changing a little bit,” she said.

Kruppe tells me that an increased reliance on technology has made it harder for students to concentrate and learn, so the school district has had to tighten its rules.

“In elementary school we are not allowed to have cell phones at all, in middle school they have them, they have to be put away, out of sight. Sometimes as a special treat, lunchtime is given off… in high school students can go in and out between classes and take out their cell phones, they are allowed to have them at lunchtime, but they are not allowed to use them during class – that’s different from the way it was a few years ago,” she said.

Other local schools have also adjusted their policies.

At East Lansing High School, phones are prohibited in classrooms and common areas of campus during school hours.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District requires students to keep their phones out of reach during class time.

Dearborn City School District’s policy varies by grade. High school students are allowed to use their cell phones, but must turn them off during school hours—some schools allow them during lunch.

At Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, high school students are only allowed to use their phones before and after school and during lunch.

“I know that even some students have told me that it makes a difference in class when you’re not distracted by these phones anymore. I think that’s important,” Kruppe said.

Obviously, there are as many cell phone policies as there are schools, and just as every school has its own policies, every family has its own opinions.

“In the summer, he goes full throttle. My husband and I were just talking about it. I told him, ‘You know, you’re not going to be on your phone as much soon, right?'” says Nicole Anderson, whose son attends West Bloomfield Middle School.

Cam Anderson is an 8th grader at West Bloomfield Middle School and says his kids aren’t allowed to have their phones on them during class. He and his mom, Nicole, tell me they don’t have a problem with it as long as he can keep his phone with him.

“We’re living in a time right now where there was a lockdown towards the end of the school year last year and he and I had to communicate via his cellphone. So when there’s a crisis, I want to know what’s going on because I can’t call the school, so that was the only way we could communicate,” Nicole Anderson said.

Cam said, “I just didn’t know what to do. So I hid in a corner and got out my phone. I called my mom, dad and sisters.” He said he was thankful he had his phone.

More and more research highlights the negative effects of mobile phones in the classroom.

A study from Central Michigan University found that students’ learning ability increased between seventh and twelfth grades when they used fewer smartphones.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics – released in 2024 – shows that 76% of all public schools prohibit non-academic use of cell phones during class time.

The data suggest that restricting mobile phone use is necessary to curb cyberbullying and drug use.

I asked Nicole: “What do you think about a complete ban on cell phones in schools?”

“I disagree…in the times we live in now, I think they need phones sometimes. After school, they definitely need them,” Nicole Anderson said.

Kruppe said: “I understand, however, that families and parents have certain concerns because they want to ensure the safety of their children and our daughter with these phones. But we have to trust our schools and the people there that we have good plans to ensure the safety of our children.”

Michigan has not yet enacted a statewide policy on cell phones, but one thing we know for sure: They are not going away.