Ditching cellphones at school has led to new real-world connections, according to one of the country's largest secondary schools.
The government ban came into force in April, but Mount Albert Grammar chose to go phone-free from the start of last year.
The school - which has about 3400 students - says it has seen significant cultural changes, with more sport and face-to-face conversations during breaks.
Mount Albert Grammar headmaster Patrick Drumm told Checkpoint that teachers were seeing the "beginnings of a shift back to some really positive habits around focus and concentration".
Mount Albert Grammar has been phone-free since the start of 2023, with the school reporting that students were becoming more engaged with teachers and each other. Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau
He said the ban was having an impact both in and out of the classroom.
"What we're seeing outside the classroom is a more high energy connected environment starting to really blossom, but also the benefit inside the classroom - which is really what we're looking for in many ways - and certainly there has been a less distracted, more focused environment, which we know will lead to better learning."
Auckland secondary school seen cultural changes due to cellphone ban
Drumm said cellphones were "designed to distract".
"They reinforce the whole short attention span, move onto the next thing, that's the nature of the beast there.
"So that environment, while it might be good for certain types of engagement and interaction, is not really conducive to the focused, distraction-free environment that you want in a classroom context."
Drumm said there was "a lot more noise" out of the classroom after the phones were banned, and the school had welcomed that, even if it led to more work for teachers.
"We've certainly had to respond with our supervision, we've got a more active role for staff. Cellphones are a wonderful babysitting tool, just having groups sitting down quietly, placidly looking down at their phones.
"So we've had to accept there is going to be much more movement around the school, certainly interactive games and those sorts of things, but we're really welcoming those changes."