Many Colorado districts are banning mobile phones during the school day. How’s that going?

This might be the end for text messages from the school lunchroom and Instagram pics from the hallways. At least if students follow the rules. Denver Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, announced last week it's banning cell phones, smart watches and other devices during the school day. Previously, different schools in DPS had different policies on when or if to allow kids to use devices. A growing number of Colorado school districts have enacted bans similar to the new DPS policy — or are considering them right now. That’s partly because state lawmakers ordered every district to set a policy on mobile device use by July 1. So how did school officials in Denver arrive at a bell-to-bell prohibition on phones? And what factors are different districts weighing as they consider their own policies? Reporter Melanie Asmar heard from parents, students and educators while reporting on the story for Chalkbeat Colorado. She talked with In The NoCo's Brad Turner about what she learned.