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North Carolina Takes Action

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Welcome to Distraction-Free Schools NC!

We are a grassroots movement of parents, grandparents, educators, school leaders, child advocates, health professionals, and mental health practitioners. We are collectively calling for statewide policy changes to allow North Carolina’s children and youth to be free to focus in schools on their education—including social and emotional learning.

 

During this spring of 2026, we are advocating for statewide policies for North Carolina’s publicly funded schools to address the overuse of smartphones, social media, and Ed Tech, specifically:

  • “Bell-to-Bell” Phone-Free Public Schools for K-12th grade: from the first bell of the school day to the last bell, and with inaccessible storage, which peer-reviewed science shows leads to the best educational outcomes.

  • Social Media-Free Schools: prohibition of the use of social media by school staff, coaches, and volunteers for direct communication with students. No child would be required to have a smartphone or social media to fully participate in school activities.

  • Safe School Technology: Protect students’ private information, and limit tech use in elementary schools, particularly for grades K-5. 

As of April 10, 2026, 23 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., are phone-free from the first bell of the day until the last. Another seven U.S. states are currently in the process of passing these “bell-to-bell” bills. North Carolina is behind the curve in protecting attention and focus in schools. While the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill in July of 2025 to restrict personal electronic devices in schools (House Bill 959 ), this bill is among the weakest bills in the U.S., restricting use only during “instructional time” (not between classes or lunch). The bill has been given a “C” rating by the non-partisan Institute for Families and Technology.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

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Let our legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly know that our children need effective guardrails for distraction-free learning. Send your email message to one legislator at a time, and then follow up with a phone call. Thank you!

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NCGA Legislators                                        Email                                      Legislative Aid                                        Phone

Rep. Brian Biggs (Chair)            Brian.Biggs@ncleg.gov           Padraig.Gibbons@ncleg.gov             919-733-5865

 

Rep. Hugh Blackwell                 Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.gov         Isaiah.Garner@ncleg.gov                919-733-5805

 

Rep. Patricia Cotham Tricia.        Cotham@ncleg.gov                Jacob.Shirley@ncleg.gov                 919-733-5886

 

Rep. Kyle Hall                                   Kyle.Hall@ncleg.gov                  Haley.Jones@ncleg.gov                 919-733-5609

 

Rep. Jimmy Dixon                       Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.gov          Michael.Wiggins@ncleg.gov            910-590-1740

 

Rep. Joe Pike                                    Joe.Pike@ncleg.gov                   Sally.Pike@ncleg.gov                      919-733-5906

 

Rep. David Willis                           David.Willis@ncleg.gov                    Jalynn McDonald                        919-733-2406

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Sen. Kevin Corbin, Chair             Kevin.Corbin@ncleg.gov             Cindy.Hobbs@ncleg.gov               919-733-5875

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Sen. Michael Lee                            Michael.Lee@ncleg.gov              Aubrey.Tuell@ncleg.gov               919-715-2525

 

Sen. Brad Overcash                   Brad.Overcash@ncleg.gov      James.VonCanon@ncleg.gov          919-733-5734

Tell our legislators about the problems with

NC’s current bill limiting phones in schools!

 

  • Teachers must enforce the current policy, since students have ready access to their devices all day. In comparison, bell-to-bell legislation is enforced by school administrators—creating a school-wide culture of distraction-free learning—and is associated with improved outcomes for academics, social/emotional learning, and school safety.

  • The lack of statewide policies means that at least 105 NC school districts are dealing with the challenges of social media addiction, interfering with positive educational outcomes.

  • The only exceptions to the bill should be for IEPs, 504s, and medical necessity.

  • The gold-standard studies by the Winston Center (based at UNC-Chapel Hill) and the NC Collaboratory found that NC public school students spend an average of one-third of the school day on their phones during all class periods. One in four students spends 3+ hours on their phones.

    • Social media made up 70% of their screen time. Addictive algorithms, combined with easy smartphone access all day, lead to reduced “cognitive control” and “self-control failure”—the inability to resist short-term gratification (checking social media) in favor of long-term achievement. (Telzer, EH, Burnell, K, 2026)

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Share the brief with your local school administrators and Board of Education members. Ask them to contact the NCGA leaders noted above.

About us

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Distraction-Free Schools NC team members are North Carolina residents who care deeply. Distraction-Free Schools NC receives technical support from the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, an initiative of the Becca Schmill Foundation, and Smartphone Free Childhood U.S.  

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Our leadership team includes:​

Beverly Hyde - Cabarrus County  

LisaPttrsn3@gmail.com - Mecklenburg County

Mary Anne Tierney - Buncombe County

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Out team meets every other Thursday at noon via Zoom.  Meeting dates include:  4/23, 5/7, 5/21, 6/4, 6/18, etc.​​​​​​​

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