More North Carolina students strolled back into school this week to face new rules restricting their cellphone use — an effort schools hope will re-engage students in classwork and face-to-face communication..

While many students have gotten used to some type of school restriction on devices, North Carolina school boards have gradually made it official for everyone in the past few years: Students need to put their phones away.

The effort has been met with pushback from parents and students about being able to stay in touch with each other — especially during emergencies — but it’s also been met with considerable acknowledgment that students spend too much time on their phones when they should be focusing on school.

All but one public school system in WRAL’s viewing area has a school boa

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