Students Turn Back to Books as More School Districts Implement Phone Bans

Students at a school district in Kentucky are putting down their phones and cracking books at a record pace now that devices are banned during class, district officials said.

The head-spinning shift from digital to analog is well underway at Jefferson County Public Schools, which serves nearly 97,000 students as Kentucky's largest school district. Library books are flying off the shelves following the enactment of a statewide ban of electronic devices in classrooms, librarians told Newsweek .

At Ballard High School in Louisville, where just 31 percent of roughly 2,000 students meet state reading proficiency standards, 891 books were checked out in August, compared to 533 last year — an increase of 67 percent.

"Oh, definitely," librarian Stephanie Conrad said when asked if she believes