SHREVEPORT, La. -- One year after Louisiana implemented a statewide ban on cell phones during school instruction, educators in Caddo Parish say the policy has helped reduce distractions and support learning in the classroom.
When the school year began last fall at Southwood High School, students and staff were adjusting to several changes, including new leadership under Principal LaToria Grant and the state's newly mandated cell phone ban.
Now, as the first full school year under the law comes to an end, administrators are reflecting on its impact.
Southwood High School principal LaToria Grant.
"When the law took place, it actually just gives you another piece of evidence to support where we were standing anyway," Grant said. "But in terms of the students, the students understand that cell phones cannot be out during instruction and the law makes it very easy for teachers."
Grant said while some students needed reminders about the policy, the school did not experience a large number of phone confiscations requiring parents to retrieve devices. Exact figures were not available.
Research shows students are likely to spend significant amounts of time on their phones when restrictions are not in place. A 2025 study published in JAMA found children spend an average of more than an hour on their phones during school hours, including about 40 minutes on social media and 13 minutes on entertainment apps.
"Some students like to look down and constantly look back at their cell phone," Grant said. "But cell phones are definitely a distraction."
Grant noted that students have access to technology in the classroom when needed.
"In terms of technology, if technology is needed during a lesson, there's one on one technology in every classroom, so the cell phone is not needed," she said.
As schools prepare for a second year under the ban, educators say the adjustment period is largely over and expect the policy to continue benefiting classroom instruction.
"It was a law that supported instruction, lessened distractions in the classroom, and that should be everybody's focus," Grant said.
Administrators also say the policy helps prepare students for academic testing environments where personal technology is not allowed.
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