Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Governor Josh Stein signed comprehensive education legislation into law on July 1 that will fundamentally change how North Carolina students interact with technology during school hours, marking one of the most significant digital safety initiatives in the state’s history.

House Bill 959, now Session Law 2025-38, passed with almost unanimous support in the North Carolina Legislature. The law requires all North Carolina public schools to prohibit student use of wireless communication devices during instructional time, with limited exceptions for educational purposes, medical needs and emergencies. It also mandates social media literacy instruction at multiple grade levels and establishes strict internet safety policies for school districts.

“When teachers don’t have to compete with cell phones for student attention, real learning happens,” Stein said. “This bipartisan bill gives students a distraction-free learning environment so they can focus on their education, and it provides a seven-hour mental break from the unrelenting pressures of phones and social media.”

The centerpiece of the legislation requires public school disticts to establish wireless communication policies that prohibit students from using, displaying or having devices turned on during instructional time. The broad definition of wireless communication devices includes cell phones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices and two-way radios.

Schools must allow exceptions for teacher-authorized educational use, students with individualized education programs (IEPs) or 504 plans, and documented medical conditions requiring device access. School systems have flexibility in establishing consequences for violations, including device confiscation and disciplinary measures under existing codes of conduct.

Polk County Schools Superintendent Todd Murphy said that the district will begin work on revising its current policies to align with the new state law. All public school units must submit their wireless communication policies to the Department of Public Instruction by September 1, with annual compliance reporting required thereafter.

The law also mandates that North Carolina’s standard course of study include instruction on social media and its health effects, delivered once in elementary school, once in middle school and twice in high school, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

The required curriculum must address the negative mental health effects of social media including addiction, misinformation distribution, behavioral manipulation techniques and the permanency of online information. Students will also learn about personal security, identifying cyberbullying and predatory behavior, and reporting suspicious online activity.

Local school boards must adopt comprehensive internet safety policies by January 1, 2026, governing student access to school-provided devices and internet services. These policies must limit access to age-appropriate content, protect student safety in electronic communications and prevent unauthorized access to school data.

Notably, the policies must “prohibit and prevent students from accessing social media platforms, except when expressly directed by a teacher solely for educational purposes.”

Stein referenced his Advisory Council on Student Safety and Well-being’s recent report, which recommended cell phone restrictions and outlined best practices for implementation. “It will serve as a resource for our school systems as they implement these common-sense policies,” he said.