"Would you let your twelve-year-old participate in a party with forty people after midnight with no adult supervision? Thats what a WhatsApp chat is, says Rabbi Yoni Fein, head of school at Brauser Maimonides Academy (BMA) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida."

"BMA, which educates students from nursery through eighth grade, is but one of a growing number of Modern Orthodox schools, across the countryfrom Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB) on Long Island to Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles (YULA) on the West Coastthat are banning smartphones from schools or imposing restrictions like checking them into lockers or Yondr pouches"

"Today, we are seeing the effects of smartphones on brain function and mental health in children globally. When smartphones first appeared, conversation among parents and educators was all about avoiding exposure to inappropriate sites and getting the right filters. Today, we are focused on human relationships, productivity, resilience and grit, says Dr. Eli Shapiro, EdD, LCSW, founder of the Digital Citizenship Project, a school-based program to train parents and teachers to minimize the dangers of technology. Rabbi Fein claims that smartphones took over the market so quickly that no one had the time to think about whether or not they were a healthy thing. Now were playing catchup as the rates of anxiety and depression soar, he says. This [policy] has nothing to do with religion; its about your childs safety and mental health, said Michelle Andron, the general studies principal of Emek Hebrew Academy/Teichman Family Torah Center, an elementary school in Los Angeles, during a Zoom with parents about a new policy to ban cell phones. If you talk to our staff, youll hear that we are seeing a sharp increase in students dealing with diagnoses of anxiety, childhood depression, self-harm and eating disorders. We need to act now."

"As the evidence mounts about the negative effects of child cell phone use on mental health and learning, states like Florida and Indiana have now limited cell phone use in schools. As of this writing in January, Los Angeles just began banning cell phones in schools, and New York City, which has the nations largest school district with over a million students, is considering a smartphone ban where every student will be required to disconnect from their devices during school hours as well."

"Moriah in Englewood, New Jersey, was one of the first day schools to require Yondr pouches for students in grades five through eight; students below fifth grade are not allowed to have cell phones. Its easy to enforce, says Rabbi Daniel Alter, Moriahs head of school. If we see a phone, the policy is that we take it away for a week. I only see cell phones out maybe three to five times a year, and often its just an oversight."