Platte-Geddes Superintendent Joel Bailey remembers an “eerily quiet” lunch room when his students were still allowed to use their cellphones during the school day.

“We decided that since the kids are in class the majority of the day, they need to talk to one another during lunch. We want that social interaction,” Bailey said. “Albeit, it’s a noisier lunch room now, at least they’re talking and interacting.”

During the 2022-23 school year, the district became one of the first in the state to require all students’ phones to be locked away during school hours. Bailey said the district realized it had been “losing the battle” with students who were making “poor decisions with social media.”

Many other South Dakota school districts have since adopted new cellphone rules, according to a South

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