March 1, 2026

Madelyn Whitt (left) and Quani'e Lanier read in the school library at the Academy @ Shawnee, a magnet middle and high school in Louisville, Kentucky. With cellphones banned at their school, students find other ways to pass time.
Lydia Schweickart for NPR

Happy Sunday! It’s Sequoia Carrillo here, one of the reporters on the team.

I’ve been reporting on technology in schools and the nationwide trend around cell phones — more than 30 states and Washington, D.C., now have some kind of cell phone ban in schools!

On the whole, teachers and researchers seem to really like the move to keep students away from their devices during the school day. Some teachers would rather the bans were structured differently, like in Virginia where one teacher said the ban had placed a large disciplinary burden on them, but most agree it’s a necessary step to curb dropping student achievement.

Up until recently, I had talked to a lot of people who work inside and outside of schools – but I hadn’t yet visited a school to see for myself how these bans work in the classroom.
A few weeks ago I was able to do just that, when I visited the Academy @ Shawnee in Louisville, Ky.

The Jefferson County school has a "bell-to-bell" policy, opting to keep students phone free from the moment they walk in the building until they leave at the end of the day.

We talked to the principal, the librarian and three students to understand the expectations versus realities of cell phone bans. You can listen to the full round table here.

— Sequoia Carrillo, Reporter, NPR Ed

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In other news...

1. A Columbia University student detained by ICE is abruptly released after the New York City Mayor met with Trump. Federal immigration authorities arrested a Columbia University student early Thursday, triggering protests on campus and allegations that agents gained entry to the university-owned residence by posing as police officers searching for a missing child. Read the story.

— The Associated Press

2. Facing a mental health crisis, a New Jersey school pulls a beloved novel from English class. After pushback from parents and students, the district said that parents could sign a permission form to allow their children to study Junot Díaz's novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in class. Read the story.

— Anastasia Tsioulcas, Culture Correspondent, NPR

3. A huge study finds a link between cannabis use in teens and psychosis later. Researchers followed more than 400,000 teens until they were adults. It found that those who used marijuana were more likely to develop serious mental illness, as well as depression and anxiety. Read the story.

— Rhitu Chatterjee, Health Correspondent, NPR

An update from the Student Podcast Challenge ...

For our readers in Austin or the greater Texas area:

NPR Ed will be at SXSW Edu on March 10 and 11! More on our programs:

So Tell Me About Yourself: Audio Storytelling 101: On Tuesday, March 10, from 4-5:30pm CT, the NPR Ed team will go over what it takes to make a good podcast — from choosing a story, figuring out a narrative arc, writing in your own voice, recording sound to putting everything together. For our teachers: This session is eligible for your Continuing Professional Education credit. So come learn with us!

Youth Takeover Day: Open to anyone – you don't have to be registered – we will be joined by our friends at PBS Reporting Labs and The Bell hosting workshops and activities on student podcasting.

Whether you’re familiar with our contest or podcast challenge-curious or just love reading our education coverage, please stop by and come say hi! We’d love to hear from you!

And in case you missed it: NPR’s 2026 Student Podcast Challenge is now open to students in grades 4-12. Please help us spread the word. More info on the contest can be found here, and from our Student Podcast Challenge newsletter.

— Janet Lee, Producer, NPR Ed

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And here's something to make you smile...

This community festival embraces the joys of a frozen lake — while it still has one. Earlier this month, Madison, Wis., was host to the city's 14th annual Frozen Assets Festival. "When our lakes are frozen, they are truly our greatest asset," says James Tye, executive director and founder of Clean Lakes Alliance, the nonprofit that hosts the festival.

This time of year, frozen lakes are a part of life here. The city was built on an isthmus — a thin strip of land between two bodies of water. Lake Mendota and Lake Monona border the city's historic downtown on either side, with the strip of land running about a mile wide at its thinnest. The lakes are visible from many places in town. In wintertime, ice fishing, skating, ice sailing and snowshoeing are all common sights.

Frozen lakes were so important to the city that records of when the ice froze each year go back more than 100 years. Today, there's even a contest where people guess the day Lake Mendota will freeze. On average, that date is getting later. Read the story.

As always, thank you for reading and listening!

— The NPR Education Team