Open Letter to All PTA Leaders and Parents across NC
We at SafeTech NC are grateful to be part of the organizing team of Distraction-Free Schools NC. Our team recently presented to the NC PTA Board of Directors. They approved this Open Letter below and sent it to all their NCPTA leaders and members. Please share this!
# # # # # # #
Hello PTA leaders and parents across NC!
We are so grateful to be asked by the NCPTA Board to share statewide the best of the resources related to Why “Bell-to-Bell” Phone Policies Support All NC Kids & Teachers!
We are members of Distraction-Free Schools NC—a grassroots group of parents, grandparents, education leaders, child advocates, and medical and mental health professionals. We believe that our children need entire school days that are free of cell phones and other addictive, electronic distractions in order to focus, thrive, and overcome the serious mental health crisis affecting our youth. Our team receives weekly guidance from the national Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, which has been instrumental in assisting 24 U.S. states and D.C. to pass legislation 
creating phone-free schools.
The model phone-free legislation passed by these 24 states (pictured above in dark blue or blueish-gray) is from the first bell to the last bell of the day, or “bell-to-bell policies.” Another six schools are also in this legislative process, with the projection of 30 total U.S. states with bell-to-bell policies by 12/31/26. In addition, another 16 states have introduced bills to limit school-issued screen use during the school day. While NC took a step forward with its “instructional time” policy (H 959), this legislation earned our state a ‘C’ grade on the 2026 Phone-Free Schools State Report Card. This “partial restriction” still allows students to access their addictive devices at very least between all classes and lunch, and creates stunning challenges with distraction and enforcement. Our kids and teachers deserve better!
The reality of how much students actually using phones at school is made clear in the recent study by UNC’s Winston Center: Middle and high school students spend an average of one-third of the school day on their phones during all class periods; 25% spend ≥ 3 hours on their phones during the school day (especially high schoolers). Social media makes up 70% of their screen time. Addictive algorithms and easy access to phones result in reduced “cognitive control” and “self-control failure”—the inability to resist short-term gratification (checking social media) vs. long-term achievement.
Here is the good news! There are many members of the NC General Assembly who support stronger bell-to-bell legislation. Why? The outcomes of bell-to-bell policies are overwhelmingly positive:
- Improved academic achievement in numerous studies
- Improved attendance, likely related to less cyberbullying
- Fewer class disturbances and improved student engagement
- Fewer in-school and out-of-school suspensions
- Reduced need for mental health services – which could provide relief in the midst of NC’s youth mental health crisis.
- Safer schools—not only during emergencies but every day, and up to 90% reduction in situations that call in SRO’s
- Improved teacher satisfaction and improved teacher recruitment!
- In nearly every study, the children who benefit most are those who are less engaged in school, those with lower grades, and those from households with lower incomes. Local data from Brunswick and Granville Counties supports these outcomes.
A bell-to-bell policy was critical in turning around the high crime rate, drug problems, and poor academic outcomes in MA’s largest high school, based in Boston. Check out principal Kevin McCaskill’s success story: Phone Free Policy Saves One City School.
The most common hesitation that parents express about bell-to-bell policies is fear of not being able to contact children in the event of a shooting. We’ve learned from School Resource Officers (locally and nationally) that children are safer every day without phones in schools—both on normal days and during a shooting. From the National Association of School Resource Officers: Students are more likely to survive any shooting incident if they are not distracted by their phones, but instead are completely focused on the safety instructions of the adult in front of them. Parents rushing to the school can block the entry of first responders. Lights and sounds from phones can give away students’ location. Without phones, drama kicked up by social media is absent. You can view a short video on this complex issue by the president of the National Association of School Resource Officers.
Let’s create safer, more successful schools. Let’s bring back noisy 
lunchrooms and hallway chatter. Let’s work toward keeping phones inaccessible all day. When phones are within reach, it can lead to “brain drain.” The research is clear: The further away the phone, the better the outcomes. These results have been confirmed in the University of Pennsylvania’s enormous Phones in Focus survey of more than 110,000 public school educators.
While some argue the NC General Assembly could wait until their long session in 2027 to take on bell-to-bell legislation, the mental health crisis that many of us see among our kids, our clients, and our patients tells us the time is NOW. The current legislation allows our kids to access social media at least between every class. In the largest study to date – Major Meta-Analysis Links Social Media to Worse Youth Mental Health – the results from more than 363,000 participants worldwide found higher risks for depression, anxiety, behavioral problems, self-injury, lower self-perception and academic achievement, and higher rates of substance use.
Let’s help our children get a stronger start in their life – to focus on their schoolwork, enjoy their peers, and improve their mental health. Here is what you can do:
- Contact the education leaders in the NC General Assembly and tell them you support a bell-to-bell policy, such as Senate Bill 913. Please contact as many of these legislators as via —not just your own rep. Contact them within this next week! See an updated list attached of the most important legislators to contact (noted in red).
- Ask all your PTA members to do the same! Share this with your friends and family!
- Model healthier phone use in your family. Keep phones away from areas where you hang out together. Be sure that meals are always phone-free. Keep phones away in the car; use travel time with children to hear about their day, chat about plans, and sing to the radio.
- Store phones securely away at least one hour before bedtime. This will help children’s natural melatonin to rise and their cortisol levels (stress hormone) to fall.
- Join our team to make this a stronger movement! Sign our Letter of Support to legislators (though not as effective as personal contact). Join our team’s Zoom meetings! We meet every two weeks, including 6/18, 7/2, and 7/16
Here are several resources for PTAs and families:
- Can’t Look Away: This documentary by Bloomberg Media tells the stories of tragic outcomes from adolescents’ use of social media, told by parents whose lost their children.
- ScreenStrong (based in Charlotte) has lots of online, free resources to help families navigate reducing screen use.
- Parent & Teacher Talk by social psychologist and best-selling author of The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, PhD, at NYU: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Impacted Everything – and What We Can Do About It (47 minutes long)
- Help with implementing a bell-to-bell policy can be found at the Phone-Free School Movement. Their Administrators’ and Ambassador’s Toolkits are free and priceless!
- Our Distraction-Free Schools NC team’s 37-minute summary of Why Bell-to-Bell Phone Policies Support all NC Kids & Teachers! This video summarizes the best of the science, the national trends, and NC-based outcomes supporting bell-to-bell legislation.
Check out our two attachments:
- Slides of our recording linked above: the science and policy overview of bell-to-bell policies
- Policy Brief: The Case for Bell-to-Bell Cell Phone-Free Schools. Share this document with your local school district’s leaders and state lawmakers.
Let’s make sure all of NC’s school children in every district have the benefits of phone-free schools! Please reach out this next week to members of the NC’s General Assembly’s Education Committee — while their short session is still underway. And please share this email with other parents and grandparents you know. 
Thank you for your precious time and attention!
Gratefully, Mary Anne and the Team of Distraction-Free Schools NC