| Description: |
By March of 2025, all secondary schools in Minnesota were required to have a cell phone polices outlining student use in school. These policies could be either restrictive, often referred to as “away for the day,” or provide limits, allowing phones to be used only during passing time or at lunch. The purpose of the mandate was “to minimize the impact of cell phones on student behavior, mental health, and academic attainment” (Office of the Revisor of Statutes, 2024, Minn. Stat. § 121A.73). Minnesota joins the majority of the rest of the country, at least 34 states and Washington D.C., to adopt similar legislation (Rock, 2025). To study its impact, three semi-structured focus groups were conducted with nine secondary principals who had already enacted cell phone policies in their schools prior to the legislation being passed to gain insight into how the policies were implemented and what impacts had been realized. Two research questions were explored: How have MN secondary schools navigated the implementation of cell phone ban policies? How do MN secondary school leaders describe the effects of a cell phone ban in their schools? |