As the long light of summer begins to wane and cool nights return, tens of thousands of students across Maine are preparing for a seasonal transition that feels increasingly disorienting. Youth of all ages are bracing themselves for the return of early mornings, academic demands and extracurricular rigor.

This shift from the freedom of summer to the structure of the school year has never been easy, but in recent years it has become punishing. And not only because of the academic workload. The deeper shock comes from a more abrupt departure: from an ideally screen-light, nature-heavy summer to a school environment saturated with digital devices.

In the average Maine classroom, students now spend several hours a day on screens, often toggling between laptops, tablets and smartphones. Lunchrooms, once filled with chatter, are now quiet as students scroll on their phones. Add in homework and recreational screen time at home and the total climbs ever higher. Most concerning is the omnipresence of smartphones. According to Pew Research, the average American teen reports being online “almost constantly.”

The harms of this amount of digital media consumption are no longer in doubt. The evidence is increasingly clear: smartphone ownership and use pose serious risks to adolescent well-being. The younger the user, the greater the risk. And this is not just a Maine problem, or an American problem, but a global one. The emergence of artificial intelligence in everyday apps and educational tools will only worsen the problem, accelerating trends of impulsivity, isolation, attention fragmentation, disinformation, distraction and mental health decline.

Bell-to-bell school days (no phone access from the first bell to the last bell of the day) create space for students to connect face-to-face, build friendships and take a much-needed emotional and cognitive break from screens. These phone-free environments boost belonging, reduce social anxiety and improve empathy and problem-solving skills. Without phone distractions students engage deeper, collaborate better and build relationships that strengthen resilience and confidence.

Ongoing research here in Maine underscores the benefits of phone-free environments for kids and teens, but parents and educators already see the effects firsthand during unplugged summers. When kids are outdoors, playing with friends, building skills or simply being present in the real world, they are calmer, more joyful and more connected. They are also kinder and more empathetic, traits essential for thriving both academically and socially.

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Which brings us back to schools, where Maine still lags behind much of the country in limiting smartphones during the school day.

A recent Education Week report noted that 38 states have passed laws or adopted formal guidance to restrict cellphone use in schools. Maine is not among them. While the state Legislature recently passed a bill requiring schools to adopt cellphone policies by 2026, no guidance was given as to what those policies should include. Neither the Maine Department of Education nor the governor’s office has taken a public stance on limiting device use in schools.

Despite this vacuum of leadership, some districts are forging ahead. Regional School Unit 1, in a groundbreaking move befitting its unit designation, has adopted a bell-to-bell phone-free policy for the 2024–25 school year. Morse High School (RSU 1) Principal Eric Varney remarks, “In my 21 years in public schools, this is the single most revolutionary policy change or initiative that I have experienced.” Portland Public Schools, Maine’s largest district, will follow suit this fall.

But this raises an uncomfortable question: Why should the benefits of a distraction-free, socially rich, safer school environment be reserved for students whose families can afford private school tuition, or who happen to live in a forward-thinking district? A school day where peers are fully present, behavioral disruptions and cyberbullying are minimized, friendships deepen, attention spans are maintained and academic focus is restored should not be something reserved for a privileged few.

We must also consider the direction Maine schools are heading. While some see the future of education as inextricably tied to AI, this optimism deserves scrutiny. Tech leaders, like Sam Altman, promise transformation but their incentives are not aligned with student well- being. Big Tech’s track record on protecting young people, especially in education, is poor — whether it’s Meta ignoring its own internal research on the mental health impacts of Instagram, or X (formerly Twitter) deploying AI tools that amplify misinformation and extremism.

Evidence from an MIT study shows that use of AI in writing tasks reduces cognitive activity. Students at the K-12 level should be challenged and pushed to the edge of their current ability every day. This is how learning works. However, using tools that allow students to offload cognitive effort denies them the opportunity to “exercise the muscles” they need to compete effectively in a rapidly evolving workforce.

Maine schools should approach AI in EdTech with caution, not blind enthusiasm. And any serious effort to regulate or curtail AI misuse or content exposure will be completely undermined by the continued presence of smartphones in schools.

Smartphones are a backdoor for the very same technology problems school policies aim to prevent — cheating through AI tools and answer-sharing apps, accessing inappropriate or distracting content, evading monitoring systems and bypassing classroom learning controls. Bell-to-bell, phone-free school days should be the bare minimum and the starting point for any sensible approach to technology in education.

Schools that delay addressing cellphone use will fall behind. Removing them from the entire school day is a simple, effective first step that clears the way for tackling bigger issues like AI, data transparency and screen overuse. It also builds the trust, engagement and policy foundations schools will need as tech challenges grow. Acting now isn’t just about phones — it’s about future-proofing our schools.

Parents in Maine understand what children need to thrive. Many stayed to raise their families or moved here precisely for the quality of life they now see slipping away — rich connections to nature, play, family and community. These values don’t need to vanish with the end of summer. But preserving them in the school year will require courage, clarity and commitment from parents, communities, educators and policymakers.

What many don’t realize is that kids want the same thing. When surveyed, the majority of teenage smartphone users would prefer to be in an environment in which no one has a phone. College-aged social media users would pay more for no one on campus to use Snapchat or TikTok than they would be willing to spend on those apps. As one teenager recently told the author, “Parents don’t understand — we know that spending too much time on phones isn’t healthy. We aren’t addicted to our phones, we’re addicted to socializing with our friends … but everyone is online.”

What a sad state of affairs we have created. Big Tech designs apps to draw their attention. We then supply them with smartphones at home and laptops at school to use those apps. And then we criticize them for spending too much time doing so.

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We must decide what kind of future we want for our kids. Will Maine schools serve the developmental needs of students, or the commercial interests of tech companies — companies that have turned our children’s attention into a product? Will we prioritize genuine human connection, or surrender to an always-on digital culture that profits from our kids’ time and attention?

There is a choice to be made. We can choose to wait and let another school year pass while children become increasingly more distracted, more anxious, more depressed, more isolated. Or we can act now with clarity, courage and conviction.

Parents: ask your school board what its phone policy is, and if it’s weak or nonexistent, or only includes academic time, demand better.

Educators: reflect honestly on whether screens are helping or hurting your classroom culture.

School leaders and policymakers: stop outsourcing student well-being to Silicon Valley. Take responsibility. Set boundaries. Lead.

This is not a fringe issue, a trivial matter to be bartered in the tug-of-war over who gets to decide. It is foundational. The ability to focus, to feel safe, to form real friendships—these are the building blocks of learning. And right now, they are being eroded by unchecked technology use in our schools.

We must stop treating this as inevitable. The AI-drenched, all-online classroom promised by Silicon Valley doesn’t have to be. A bell-to-bell phone-free school day is not radical. It’s rational. And it’s already working in some (but too few) districts across Maine. Every student in this state deserves that same protected educational environment, regardless of ZIP code or tuition.

Let this school year be the one we turn the tide. Maine doesn’t need to wait for permission from outside the state to act, Maine can act from principles. The future won’t be built by children lost in algorithms and overstimulation — it will be built by those whose parents and schools had the courage to say, “Enough.”