TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - Florida students are heading back to school without their phones in class. A state law that just went into effect this school year is cracking down on cell phone use in public schools.

Under the new law, elementary and middle school students aren’t allowed to use phones at all during the school day. High school students can bring their phones, but they have to keep them put away during class, unless a teacher allows them as part of a lesson.

Yolonda Smith, a parent of a Florida ninth grader, says she welcomes the stricter rules.

“She definitely doesn’t need her phone,” Smith said. “I’ve had my daughter call me to say, ‘Oh, she’s not talking to me,’ or they’re texting friends and finding out things that have nothing to do with school

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