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Put it in your locker. Store it in a pouch. Keep it in your backpack. Hand it over to the principal. Leave it at home. 

With the state of Michigan enacting a that restricts students from using their phones during instructional time, lawmakers have left it up to school districts to create their own policies on how to enforce this ban.

A team of University of Michigan researchers parsed through and compiled nearly 800 schools across the state, some of them already in place, to examine the different approaches they are taking to enforce this statewide ban. While many schools have enacted their own approaches to limiting cell phone use in recent years, the data reveals that schools believe there are a number of different ways to keep students off their phones after the bell rings.

In fact, U-M鈥檚 research collected on policies enacted as of the 2025-26 school year reveal an even 50-50 split on when these bans are put in place. Half of the state鈥檚 schools have implemented 鈥渂ell-to-bell鈥� restrictions that don鈥檛 allow students to use their phones at any point during the day, while the other half have 鈥渟chedule-based鈥� restrictions that allow them to use their phones at designated times, including during lunch and between class periods.

U-M Education Policy Professor Brian Jacob said the research is intended to provide guidance on the trade-offs of different approaches as the state law goes into place this fall.

鈥淲e want to make sure state leaders and district leaders were cognizant of this as they were imposing mandates on their individual schools because I have a feeling restricting cell phone use in schools is going to be a nuanced, challenging, multi-year process,鈥� Jacob said. 鈥淭his is one big genie that is out of the bottle, and figuring out the best way to get it back in the bottle and stay in the bottle, I think, is going to take a little practice and iteration on the part of schools.鈥�

Two years ago, Novi Community School District took a nuanced approach to putting its cell phone restrictions in place. 

In grades K-4, students aren鈥檛 allowed to have them in the building. In fifth through eighth grades, students can bring their phones to school, but they are locked up in at the beginning of the day and kept there until school lets out.  Phones are placed in pouches by staff and sealed shut, with a designated magnetic device used to unlock them when appropriate. While high school students also are issued their own pouches, the phones are locked up during instructional time, with students being able to unlock and access them between classes and during lunch.

Superintendent Ben Mainka said the different approaches are intended to give high school students more autonomy that mirrors how they might experience using a cell phone in the workplace.

鈥淎s students go through school, they’re learning and they’re maturing, and so we know that as they grow and mature, we want to be able to open up more freedom and responsibilities,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he other part is, as they get to high school, we’re really helping them understand what it is like in a workplace, and we know that they’re going to have their phones on them, but they also need to know how to manage that. So, basically, giving them the autonomy to know that there are certain times that the phone needs to be off limits and put away, and then there are times when you can check it.鈥�

U-M鈥檚 research found that just 2% of schools in the state have taken this approach. The most common type of enforcement of cell phone restriction is described as 鈥渘o-show,鈥� with 62% of schools requiring students to keep their phones in their backpacks or pockets. 

Another 17% of schools allow students to bring cell phones to school, but keep them in their lockers throughout the day, while 9% of schools collect students鈥� phones and keep them in a designated place. Some schools (8%) have taken the approach of keeping cell phones out of schools completely, while another 3% have a centralized collection of phones with an administrator when they enter the building.

The research also showed that the type of school and its location impacted the type of policy the school enacted, with charter (79%) and urban schools (76%) substantially more likely to require bell-to-bell policies than suburban (49%) and rural (41%). 

Jacob said charters and urban schools might be more attracted to having complete control over when students can have access to their phones with options like centralized collection or lockable pouches, he said, because they might believe phones are more 鈥減roblematic鈥� in schools than suburban or rural schools do.

鈥淣ow, whether they actually are, I think many suburban schools might be fooling themselves by thinking, 鈥極h, the phones aren’t really much of a problem,鈥欌�� Jacob said. 鈥淏ut I think there’s a perception in urban school districts where there might be more chaos and more distraction that there’s something attractive about these more restrictive policies.鈥�

While Pellston Public Schools in Northern Michigan only enrolls around 500 students, the district has taken a more restrictive approach to enforcing its cell phone policy, which was enacted at the suggestion of middle and high school Principal Chris Schlappi in 2024.

Superintendent Stephen Seelye had initial concerns that Schlappi鈥檚 suggestion to have students lock their cell phones in Yondr pouches would be met with opposition from parents who were concerned about being able to contact their children in the event of an emergency. 

With several other avenues for students to contact their parents, Seelye said it made sense for the school to spend $15,000 to purchase the pouches for students in grades 6 to 12, with a complete cell phone ban in place at the elementary level.

Students aren鈥檛 able to access their cell phones throughout the day after locking them in their pouches and leaving them with their home room teacher; Seelye said enforcement of the policy has gone better than he ever could have expected.

鈥淚 really think it’s one of the best decisions, if not the best decision I’ve made in education,鈥� Seelye said.

Rather than relying on teachers to keep an eye on whether students are taking phones out of their backpacks or pockets as 鈥渘o show鈥� policies do, locking cell phones into pouches has greatly reduced the burden on teachers to enforce the ban, he said, with the occasional 鈥渂ad actors鈥� quickly being discovered.

鈥淭eachers have got a lot of things to juggle and they’ve been given their time back,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey no longer have to worry about if (a) kid has their cell phone and is seeking it. I would say I probably have 5% of my kids on a daily basis that are trying to hide their cell phones, and we catch most of them.

鈥淏efore, when every kid had a cell phone and there were seven of them out in class and one might buzz or beep, it was hard for my teachers to figure out where that came from, but now it’s not hard. Now everybody else has their phone locked up, and you know they can pinpoint who it was.鈥�

U-M鈥檚 research lays out three considerations for districts still working through enacting policies: Phone policies present difficult trade-offs for educators and policymakers; establishing and communicating a clear cellphone policy likely enhances adherence; and unintended consequences may occur in classrooms and broader school settings.

While no-show policies remain popular among Michigan schools, Jacob said teachers told him that the most effective approaches take them out of the role of being the 鈥渂ad guy.鈥�

鈥淚 think there’s a lot of pressure among teachers in that regard,鈥� he said. 鈥淭eachers that I’ve talked to really do like school-wide policies where some of the burden of enforcement is taken off of their shoulders.鈥�

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