Students can’t get off their phones. Schools have had enough.

Administrators see them as an intensifying distraction — or, worse, a tax on students’ mental health.

When students returned to school during the pandemic, educators quickly saw a change in their cellphone habits. More than ever, they were glued to the devices during class — posting on social media, searching YouTube, texting friends.

So this year, schools in Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California and others banned the devices in class to curb student obsession, learning disruption, disciplinary incidents and mental health worries.

“We basically said, ‘This has got to stop,’” said Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli.

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