Cherry Hill school district begins ban on student cellphone use

Student in Cherry Hill will need to keep their cellphones out of the classroom at schools throughout the district starting Tuesday.

That's because the district -- one of the largest in South Jersey -- has implemented a ban on cellphones, smart watches, ear buds and wireless headphones during class instruction.

Officials with the district said that the move is intended to help students focus in the classroom.

In a statement on the move, district officials said that the "use of wireless communication devices in schools, particularly cell phones, has negative effects on academic performance, focus, and mental health."

"To support school environments in which students can fully engage with their classmates and their teachers, and to focus attention upon classroom instruction, the Cherry Hill Board of Education has determined that the use of cell phones and other wireless communication devices by students during school hours should be limited," officials said in a statement.

While the use of phones is banned during instructional periods, students will still be permitted to use them "during lunch, recess, between classes, while on school buses, or during co-curricular activities (unless the school’s Principal elects to prohibit such use during lunch and provided that any co-curricular use is approved by the co-curricular supervisor and does not create a safety hazard during the co-curricular activity)."

Students will be required to either keep phones silenced in a secure place -- like a locker or backpack -- during times when cellphone use is prohibited, officials said.

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"I think it's great. I think they need such a hard pause on the phones in general," Dana DelGrosso, mother of middle school students, told NBC10's Karen Hua. "I don't even see how kids can learn when the phone is present because it's such a distraction."

"I hate it, it's dumb," London Atiya, a seventh grade student in Cherry Hill, argued. "They've been saying this for years but it's never been done."

However, there will be exceptions to this rule -- for example, there will be concessions for students who need their phones for health or accessibility reasons.