A new Kansas law now bars students from accessing phones, earbuds and smartwatches all school day

There was a time students carried lunch bags and bottles in their hands. Now those things have been replaced with larger-than-life smartphones and iPads that contain all the information and their attention. This has prompted at least 35 states along with the District of Columbia to ban smartphones in some capacity. There are 24 states that have a straight bell-to-bell restriction on smartphones in schools. That is, they are not allowed at all from the time school starts to the time school ends. Some of these states include Alabama, California, Texas, and New York. For Florida, Georgia, and Hawaii, the bell-to-bell ban is only effective for grades K-8. There are 10 other states that only ban smartphones when it's instructional time in the classroom, including Indiana, Utah, and Nevada.When students in Kansas return to school later this month, a new law will require that their personal cellular communication devices, including phones, earbuds, and smartwatches are not accessed during the school day. While some parents and kids consider phones a safety precaution, parent support for the bans is growing. Students in the Shawnee Mission School District will be required to leave their ce...