Georgia school systems planning how to implement state's new high school cellphone ban
Georgia has officially passed a cellphone ban in high schools with the Distraction Free Education Act.
On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1009, expanding a ban already in place for elementary and middle schools to the state's high schools.
The ban will go into effect in July 2027. Until then, school districts across the state have time to figure out how to implement the new law's requirements, as the law lets schools choose how to keep phones out of the classroom.
Many metro Atlanta school districts already had bans in place, including Marietta City Schools, Cobb County, Henry County, Cherokee County, and Atlanta Public Schools.
"We didn't take a state law to start helping kids, right? We knew we had to do something, which is why we started acting on this in 2024," said Chris Fiore with Marietta City Schools.
Spokespeople for Gwinnett County and Fulton County schools say they're still discussing how to enforce the restrictions.
"It's pouches for sixth, seventh, eighth grade. High school, it's no pouches, these are kids that are old enough, and they're responsible enough to put their phones away," said Fiore.
Dr. Julie Gazmararian, a professor at Emory Rollins School of Public Health, has been studying the impacts of Marietta's phone ban.
"We're seeing some changes as far as academic performance and engagement in the classroom; kids are actually positive about the policy," Gazmararian said.
"When you walk into the lunch room, they're talking again, they're playing games, paper footballs. It's incredible to see kids are being kids again," said Fiore.
The new restrictions do have exceptions. Students whose Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504 Plan, or medical plan requires the use of a device will still be permitted to access them as necessary.
