In July of 2018, the French government passed a law banning cell phones in schools. According to CNN, the law passed 62 votes to one. The policy came into effect during the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year and impacts students in kindergarten through the 9th grade. Some schools across the U.S. are enacting similar policies as a way to decrease distractions for students. "It was a constant distraction for kids and what it became is a constant discipline issue," Robin Kvalo, Principal of Portage High School, tells Wisconsin Public Radio. Kvalo says the school confiscated over 200 phones during the last school year, and that students and teachers are seeing results. "They are not distracted anymore," she says. "The phones are not their preoccupation. They know they can't have the phones in the classroom. If that had been the case years ago, we wouldn't have needed the policy." It doesn't take a scientist to tell you that cell phones can be distracting, but if you want do want confirmation from a scientist, it's not hard to find. Study after study shows that the powerful computers we keep in our pockets can be distracting for even the most disciplined of adults — not to mention students.

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