The Clark County School District has announced the new policy for the 2024-2025 school year

• “These new devices prevent and reduce distractions in the classroom,” the Clark County School District said in a statement

• A pilot program has already been introduced in some schools in Clark County.

• One student raised safety concerns related to the new policy

Thanks to a new policy, students in Las Vegas can’t watch their favorite TikTok videos or post Instagram pictures on their phones during class.

The Clark County School District (CCSD) announced that students in grades 6 through 12 will be required to use signal-blocking bags to store their phones during class starting in the 2024-2025 school year, Fox affiliate KVVU reported. A pilot program began last month in about 10% of the district’s schools, while the remaining schools will implement the policy in August.

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A statement from the CCSD on the signal blocking bags, which was provided to NBC partner KSNV, states in part: “These new devices prevent and reduce distractions in the classroom, enable a productive learning environment and increase student focus on the lesson.”

Related: Students are ‘disappointed’ after Alaska high school bans cell phones altogether – but staff ‘think it’s great’

As CBS partner KLAS reports, the non-lockable bags will be placed in classrooms so that students can access them in an emergency.

The school district’s policies have drawn both positive and mixed reactions.

“I think it’s great,” Emy Monreal, mother of an Arbor View High School student who participated in the pilot program, told KSNV. “You go to class, you learn, you get to be taught by the teachers and you don’t have to be distracted by your cell phones.”

Rylee Myrold, a senior at Arbor View, told the same news outlet that the policy raises safety concerns. “It’s hard to get out of the bag,” she said. “The bags are a nuisance. And if something were to happen, everyone knows – you expect everyone to run to the front and dig for their phone, and you can’t tell which one is yours.”

Related topics: Hundreds of students protest against a Texas school’s new cell phone ban: “This is not right”

PEOPLE reached out to the CCSD for comment on Friday.

Cell phone pouches are part of a growing trend in schools across the country, including in Massachusetts and New Jersey. As NBC News reported, school districts in 41 states have spent $2.5 million on the pouches from Yondr, a company that makes these magnetically sealed devices for storing cell phones.

Related: Vermont bill bans cell phones for anyone under 21, but even its sponsor ‘wouldn’t vote for it’

Renesha Parks, the health officer for Richmond Public Schools in Virginia, spoke in favor of the Yondr bags despite the financial cost. In an article published in The Hill in December 2023, she mentioned a policy planned for six schools earlier this year to ban cell phone use.

“It’s a very expensive initiative,” Parks said of the $75,000 price tag for the bags, which cover 4,200 students. “But we believe it will reduce the number of violations related to student cell phone use and increase productivity and academics in the classroom. It’s worth the investment.”

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