NC Middle Schoolers Defy Phone Ban, Study Finds

0:00It's March 31st. Welcome in. This is Durham News Today, where local news meets AI. North Carolina's new law banning phones during class time isn't sticking with many middle school kids. A UNC Chapel Hill study shows just 60.7% of students say they're following school rules since the ban kicked in last January. First, nearly 40% report schools aren't always enforcing it and students often sneak peaks when bored. Before the ban, these same kids were glued to their phones for nearly a third of the school day, over two hours on average, mostly scrolling social, media and entertainment apps. Researchers track 79 middle and high schoolers from 2021 to 2024, finding checks every hour and links to weaker. Focus. Students aren't fans. 40.7% want the rules looser, with over 60% overall pushing back. Parents keep calling anyway, 67.5% of kids get those pings during school. Teachers feel the stress too, with over half dealing with moderate hassle from device distractions.

1:04Lawmakers heard this Tuesday from UNC's Caitlin Bernel, who's running the ongoing phones and tech and schools, survey of over 2,000 middle. Schoolers and nearly 300 teachers. Kids admit to workarounds, like bypassing filters. 34% do it, and 39.7% sometimes ignore the policy outright. More surveys hit in April and October, with the full report and recommendations dropping next winter. Send. Kevin Corbin's calling for a tougher bell to bell ban to make enforcement easier, especially after big verdicts hitting social media giants for. Addictiveness.