What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

Teachers say mobile phones make their lives a living hell - so one Massachusetts school barred them

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When the weather is nice, the Buxton boarding school moves lunch outside. Students, faculty and guests grab their food from the kitchen, and eat together under a white tent that overlooks western Massachusetts' Berkshire mountains.

As the close of the school year neared last June, talk turned to final assignments (the English class was finishing Moby-Dick) and end-of-year fun (there was a trip planned to a local lake). It was, in most ways, a typical teenage afternoon - except that no one was on their phones.