GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks Central High School Principal Jon Strandell said he has seen students become more attentive in the classroom and engaged with one another after the statewide cellphone ban went into effect this year.

Passed in the last legislative session, Gov. Kelly Armstrong’s statewide “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban requires students to have all “personal electronic communication devices” put away during the entirety of the school day — including during “unstructured learning experiences,” like lunch, recess and passing periods. Strandell said he has seen a difference on campus after the ban, not only in the classrooms, but also in the social lives of students.

“Over the other years, the commons was rather quiet, and now it's not because they are engaged with each other,” he

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