Alabama’s Classrooms Are Getting the Focus They Deserve

Posted by Team Emily Jones

With school starting in just a few weeks, parents across Alabama are preparing for one of the most noticeable changes this school year: the implementation of the FOCUS Act. The new law shifts how classrooms operate, requiring Alabama students to put away their phones and focus on learning.

When I first heard about the FOCUS Act, I wasn’t immediately convinced. I’ve always been cautious about my own son’s screen use – he doesn’t have a cell phone, and I don’t allow him to carry his iPad to school. Still, I wrestled with the tension between parental authority and school policy. Should it really be the government’s job to tell families what their kids can bring to class?

That changed when I read “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt.

This powerful book reframes what so many of us have sensed for years: that childhood has been hijacked by screens, and that the smartphone is at the heart of our youth mental health crisis. It’s not just a hunch anymore. It’s a growing body of evidence backed by science, common sense, and real-world experience.

Haidt points out that by 2012, most American teens owned smartphones – and it was right around that time that adolescent mental health began its sharpest decline in decades. From 2010 to 2015, rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm skyrocketed, especially among girls. Suicide rates for teen girls doubled.

What changed? According to Haidt, we moved childhood from the real world to the digital one. Free play, outdoor time, and face-to-face interactions were replaced by filtered selfies, endless scrolling, and algorithm-driven content that fuels insecurity and social comparison.

And there’s growing evidence that removing phones during the school day helps reverse some of these trends. In a 2016 U.K. study, schools that adopted strict mobile phone bans saw academic performance rise significantly – especially among low-performing students. States such as Florida, Texas and Indiana have also made similar moves, with one district in Florida reporting improved behavior and more focus. Closer to home, Pike Road Junior High School in Alabama implemented a no-phone policy and later reported a 95-point increase in PSAT 8/9 scores. The message is clear: when phones disappear, learning improves.

Which brings us back to Alabama.

The FOCUS Act, signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey in May 2025, responds to these trends with clarity and courage. It requires all K–12 students to turn off and store their wireless devices – including smartphones, smartwatches and earbuds – during instructional hours. But this law does more than regulate what students bring from home. It also requires local school boards to adopt age-appropriate internet safety policies for school-owned devices.

That last piece is critical and underreported. Our children may be physically separated from their phones under the new law – but that doesn’t mean they’re free from digital exposure. As a parent, I’ve grown increasingly concerned about the silent spread of AI-powered platforms in the classroom. These tools, embedded in school-issued Chromebooks and apps, often track behavior, emotions, and even social trends among students without clearly defined parental consent.

Earlier this year, I wrote an op-ed for “The Daily Wire” warning about this very issue – how AI in the classroom is being used not just as a teaching tool, but as a surveillance mechanism. Parents have a right to know what data is being collected, how it’s used, and with whom it’s shared. If we’re going to take student attention and safety seriously, then internet safety policies must include full transparency. Consent isn’t optional. It’s foundational.

School districts like Baldwin County have already announced their implementation of pouch systems that physically lock student phones during the school day. Others are enforcing policies requiring all devices to be turned off and out of reach.

But implementation is only part of the equation. The bigger shift must happen in our cultural expectations. Teachers should not have to beg for students’ attention. Parents should not feel guilty for saying no to phones. And schools should not build instruction around tech tools simply because they’re trendy or grant-funded.

I saw this issue up close at the end of the 2025 school year when I joined my son’s fourth-grade class on a field trip. Before we even stepped off the bus, the teacher told students that phones were not allowed. Yet during the tour, one student was caught using a phone and had it confiscated. What followed was a steady stream of disruption. The student and a friend repeatedly asked for the phone back, forcing the teacher to manage device drama in the middle of what should have been a learning experience.

The teacher later shared with me how disruptive phones have become, even in fourth-grade classrooms. She expressed how relieved she is that the FOCUS Act will finally give educators the authority needed to remove distractions and maintain focus in the classroom without relying on inconsistent school-by-school policies. It’s clear that teachers are facing a daily battle for student attention – and phones, by their very nature, are designed to steal it.

Opponents of the FOCUS Act often raise one main objection: emergencies. They argue that students need access to phones during school shootings or lockdowns. As a mother, I understand that instinct. But here’s the hard truth: in a real emergency, pulling out a phone is not a protective action – it’s a dangerous one. Law enforcement experts agree that phones can reveal a student’s location, create dangerous distractions, or draw attention to students who should be remaining silent and unseen. Silence saves lives. Our children need protection, not distraction.

If we’re genuinely concerned about school safety, then the conversation needs to be about hardened facilities, trained security, and comprehensive emergency planning – not whether a fourth-grader can fire off a text under a desk. Phones are not a substitute for safety.

The FOCUS Act is a critical step forward – not just because it restores order to the classroom, but because it restores boundaries in a generation that desperately needs them. Childhood wasn’t designed to be lived through a screen. Kids need eye contact, outdoor play, quiet minds, and the ability to sit in a moment without needing to document it for likes.

And so do we.

As a parent, I now see the FOCUS Act not as a restriction – but as a relief. It relieves teachers of the burden of battling devices. It relieves students from the pressure of being constantly connected. And it relieves parents from the exhausting cycle of arguing over phones by reinforcing healthy boundaries.

If we want to raise children who are mentally strong, emotionally grounded, and academically successful, we must stop asking them to learn in the same environment that’s making them anxious and distracted.

We must give them back their focus.