{"id":4348,"date":"2026-07-29T21:10:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4348"},"modified":"2026-07-29T21:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T21:10:56","slug":"back-to-school-will-utahs-bell-to-bell-school-cellphone-ban-sharpen-students-classroom-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4348","title":{"rendered":"Back to school: Will Utah\u2019s bell-to-bell school cellphone ban sharpen students\u2019 classroom focus?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>An updated statewide default cellphone ban is now in effect in Utah K-12 public schools.<\/li>\n<li>A local \u201cscience of learning\u201d expert says phone prohibitions in classrooms will not ensure improved student focus.<\/li>\n<li>Skilled teachers can use both competition and collaboration to improve student focus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Utah kids will soon be back in class hauling backpacks stuffed with school supplies, textbooks and maybe a few snacks.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4346\">Crucial U.S. spy powers will stay dark until September \u2014 but Congress is one step closer to renewal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One item they won\u2019t be carrying? Cellphones.<\/p>\n<p>A new law passed by the 2026 Utah Legislature will be in effect when K-12 students go back to school in the coming weeks. The state\u2019s default school cellphone policy now restricts cellphones in school from opening bell to closing bell.<\/p>\n<p>Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and several state lawmakers \u2014 along with many teachers, parents and even a few students \u2014 are confident the updated cellphone policy will improve student academics, even while increasing classroom focus and social connections.<\/p>\n<p>Time will tell if Utah\u2019s bell-to-bell cellphone prohibition is working.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, national studies of school cellphone ban outcomes examine only limited elements of student performance and environments. And most cellphone restriction policies in the U.S. are still in early stages.<\/p>\n<p>But one local educator with an extensive background in the science of learning and student success said the early research indicates bell-to-bell cellphone bans are not magic bullets to optimizing learning outcomes in K-12 schools.<\/p>\n<p>In a discussion with the Deseret News, Western Governors University Senior Vice President and Executive Dean of the School of Education Jeff Borden said that banning cellphones at schools \u201cis a fairly new initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But early research on such policies suggests mixed results, observed Borden.<\/p>\n<p>Low-achieving students from typically low socioeconomic backgrounds, he said, have shown far more academic progress following bell-to-bell cellphone bans than their counterparts from middle and high socioeconomic backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>Another study found that reading scores improved for fourth and eighth graders.<\/p>\n<p>But classroom factors such as attendance and bullying have shown to be largely unaffected by cellphone bans, at least in the early studies, according to Borden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe research does say banning cellphones is a good idea \u2014 (but) I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s good as a panacea. It doesn\u2019t necessarily accomplish everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Will Utah students be more focused in class without their phones?<\/h3>\n<p>One key outcome that the early cellphone ban research has not adequately determined is whether or not student focus improves, said Borden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe measures of learning did go up \u2014 and that\u2019s great,\u201d he said. \u201cTest scores went up. But that isn\u2019t necessarily (a measure) of better focus. \u2026 I think we\u2019re trying to prove that out, but the studies have been too small. The methodologies weren\u2019t great. And I don\u2019t know that we can claim that definitively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brain focus, from a neuroscience perspective, \u201ccomes down to novelty,\u201d said Borden.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, he said, the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is created when students have \u201cjust enough of a challenge that they think they can overcome something. They think they can figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Generating norepinephrine is both a curricular approach and an instructional approach, explained Borden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo getting people puzzles or problems that they believe they can overcome \u2014 that is what drives focus from sort of a neurotransmitter perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No surprise, surveys show teachers are embracing cellphone bans in class. But Borden emphasized that teachers in a phone-free classroom still have to take the next step to promote better student focus. <\/p>\n<p>And while there may be fewer digital distractions, teachers still have to capitalize on engaging their students with \u201cbest practices\u201d of instruction and curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4344\">Opinion: What the U.S. risks losing if the war in Iran continues<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>So what are classroom \u2018best practices\u2019?<\/h3>\n<p>Teachers must find ways in their instruction to include \u201cdesirable difficulties,\u201d said Borden. The challenge is making learning \u201cjust a little bit harder than it could be\u201d to engage more parts of students\u2019 brains while increasing focus and motivation.<\/p>\n<p>Borden gives the example of a teacher who tells the students that they are going to be learning fractions. Many of the kids may have already decided they don\u2019t like math. They will quickly lose focus and tune out the teacher.<\/p>\n<p>But a teacher who says that they need help discovering just the right amount of ingredients to make Grandma\u2019s cookies \u2014 \u201ca one-third teaspoon of this, a one-fourth tablespoon of that\u201d \u2014 will shift the student\u2019s motivation element.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a focus element that\u2019s changed as they\u2019re trying to uncover the answers that they will ultimately need to figure out in order to know how to multiply, add, subtract fractions,\u201d Borden explained.<\/p>\n<p>With or without classroom phone bans, it\u2019s necessary for teachers to drive motivation, he added. \u201cIt won\u2019t always work, and people are different \u2014 but motivation is part of the learning equation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it is incumbent on any good teacher to say to a student: \u2018Here\u2019s the reason this matters to you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Learning catalysts: Competition and collaboration<\/h3>\n<p>Most Utah teachers can\u2019t personalize an instruction model for each individual student. It\u2019s not scalable. But teachers, said Borden, can utilize two seemingly opposite approaches to sharpen focus and learning: competition and collaboration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompetition is a great catalyst that motivates people to say, \u2018I want to do better than another team, another group, or another person.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For others, collaboration is a \u201cbest practice\u201d catalyst, said Borden.<\/p>\n<p>The so-called \u201clove hormone\u201d oxytocin is produced when a person believes that they have a network, friend or relationship that is supportive \u2014 or collaborative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a person has oxytocin in their system, they are willing to accept the advice of another, like a teacher or a peer,\u201d said Borden.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, one of the allures of a cellphone constantly receiving a steady stream of notifications is that the notification functions almost like a fake hit of oxytocin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to work as practitioners to connect our students to one another and to ourselves \u2014 because when we do that, they start driving oxytocin and then they can learn from us,\u201d said Borden.<\/p>\n<h3>And what about AI and student focus\/instruction?<\/h3>\n<p>Borden said WGU alumni working in the classrooms are reporting that parents are eager for their kids to learn how to use artificial intelligence. They recognize that the technology will be prolific throughout their children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<p>But, added Borden, \u201cstudents primarily use AI to cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So teachers are searching to find an AI balance in their instruction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese AI tools are emerging so fast that nobody knows what to do with them or how to use them effectively,\u201d said Borden. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what we\u2019re trying to do, at our school anyway, is to try to find sort of that middle-ground where we can say, \u2018I know what the desire is, I know what you\u2019re up against. Here\u2019s how you can kind of bridge that continuum as things evolve.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4342\">Sen. John Curtis discusses Utah issues with Trump AG nominee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Removing digital devices from the classroom is not a panacea to improving learning and instruction, according to &#8216;science of learning&#8217; expert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Back to school: Will Utah\u2019s bell-to-bell school cellphone ban sharpen students\u2019 classroom focus? - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4348\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to school: Will Utah\u2019s bell-to-bell school cellphone ban sharpen students\u2019 classroom focus? 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