{"id":83892,"date":"2026-01-11T12:55:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/83892\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:55:54","slug":"cellphone-ban-in-effect-for-new-jersey-schools-nbc10-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/83892\/","title":{"rendered":"Cellphone ban in effect for New Jersey schools \u2013 NBC10 Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Governor Phil Murphy signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcphiladelphia.com\/news\/local\/nj-lawmakers-move-closer-to-banning-cellphones-in-schools\/4321957\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">law banning cellphone use in New Jersey schools<\/a> to promote focused learning environments.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy signed the bipartisan legislation on Thursday, January 8, 2026, during a visit to Ramsey High School in Bergen County.<\/p>\n<p>The bill prohibits students in grades K-12 from using cell phones and other internet-enabled devices during regular school hours, on school buses, or at school-sanctioned events.<\/p>\n<p>During his 2025 State of the State address, Murphy announced his intention to pursue phone-free schools in the Garden State; now that plan is in motion. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith today\u2019s bill signing, we are ensuring New Jersey schools are a place for learning and engagement, not distracting screens that detract from academic performance. In schools across our state, from Ramsey to Woodbury, we have seen the positive impact of phone-free policies,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cTeachers report that students are more focused, less anxious, and they are socializing and laughing with each other \u2014 not through a screen \u2014 but in hallways and classrooms.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Murphy added, &#8220;By getting rid of needless distractions, we are fundamentally changing our schools\u2019 learning environments and encouraging our children to be more attentive and engaged during the school day. This is a sensible policy that will make a world of difference for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every New Jersey school district will now have to follow the lead of districts like Glassboro, which went phone-free about a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea Locastro, who has been teaching in Glassboro for 28 years, weighed in. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has elevated instruction. It\u2019s made it easier to connect with the kids,&#8221; Locastro told NBC10.  <\/p>\n<p>Locastro added, \u201cI\u2019ve seen an increase in student participation in the classroom. I\u2019ve seen better performance, better grades. The more you unplug, the better their performance becomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some students who spoke to NBC10 even agreed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy grades have actually gotten way better,&#8221; one student shared. &#8220;When I used to have my phone, I used to be like unfocused. I have about 90s in most of my classes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Including New Jersey, 37 states and the District of Columbia now have laws or regulations limiting the use of phones and other electronic devices in schools. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Governor Phil Murphy signed a law banning cellphone use in New Jersey schools to promote focused learning environments.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[915,14250,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-83892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-new-jersey","tag-phil-murphy","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}