Nashville school among first to restrict phones in TN classrooms

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The days of scrolling through social media during class are coming to an end across the state.

Governor Bill Lee recently signed the legislation mandating schools to limit phone use in classrooms, beginning in the 2025–2026 school year.

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But one Nashville school is already ahead of the curve.

At KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School, high school students are using a pouch called Yondr to lock up their phones during the day. Students put their phones in the pouches at the beginning of the school day and can’t unlock them until the end of the day.

“At first, I wasn’t a big fan of it… after some time, when I was able to actually start using it more, and I got used to it. I actually was able to see the positives over any negatives that it had to come with,” said KIPP student Janaeci Brown.

School officials say the impact has been noticeable. Since adopting the phone-free policy last January, chronic absences have dropped by 26%.

“I think it actually helped students interact with each other and to be able to actually talk and be more focused on the work,” Brown said.

Students say the benefits go beyond academics.

Senior Tomontae Morrell says the policy also helped improve their social life.

“So locking our phones up, it increased the rate of us just being able to interact with each other or just make new friendships,” Morrell said.

As a student-athlete, he admits it took some getting used to.

“I’m so used to getting these texts and calls from different coaches and things of that nature, so it’s like, I can’t reach back to him at this time, where I’m stuck in class with my yonder, I can’t get my phone to text this coach. But honestly, it grew on me.”

KIPP Academy’s school counselor, Kia Rucker, says she’s noticed a shift in the overall mental health with this cellphone-free environment.

“It’s not so chaotic with let me show you what she said, the drama has definitely decreased,” Rucker said. “With cyberbullying being a big thing in past schools, I have not experienced that here. I think that has a lot to do with not having access to these devices throughout the school day.”

While the new law restricts cellphone use during class, it also requires schools to have plans in place to communicate with parents during emergencies, including lockdowns.