As more legislation sweeps the nation limiting children’s phone use in schools, a new report card shows not all laws are created equal.

The “Phone-Free Schools State Report Card,” released late last month, gave only two states “A” grades out of the 40 with phone-free legislation. North Dakota and Rhode Island both received high marks for their stringent laws, dictating that devices be stored in inaccessible spots during the entirety of the school day.

The report card was born after a massive uptick in the number of states tackling potential over-use of personal electronic devices in the classroom. It’s a collaboration between entities advocating for limiting children’s exposure to technology: the Institute for Families and Technology, Smartphone Free Childhood US, the Becca Schmill Foundation and The Anxious Generation, a new nonprofit that emerged out of the best-selling book of the same name.

“There’s been so much movement, which has been very encouraging, however not all laws are created equal,” says Kim Whitman, lead researcher on the report card and co-lead for Smartphone Free Childhood US.

Some states initially adapted more lax laws, namely banning devices during instructional time, but allowing access during lunch or passing periods. The early adopters, including Florida, Louisiana and Indiana, widened the scope to become bell-to-bell banners in recent years, with 17 states adapting bell-to-bell policies straight away, according to Whitman.

From the perspective of the report card authors, the more comprehensive the ban, particularly when it comes to keeping phones inaccessible, the better. In the latest report, a majority of states (17, plus the District of Columbia) received a “B” rating for their “bell-to-bell” mandate, which requires devices to be put away during instructional time, but lost points for keeping phones accessible.

“We know phones are addictive and it’s hard for adults, let alone kids, to resist the ping in their pocket,” Whitman says, pointing toward research that teacher retention goes up when phones are in inaccessible places, since teachers do not have to police students’ usage.

Students themselves support more of a ban in classrooms only (with 41 percent in favor) and are less in favor of an all-day ban (with only 17 percent in favor), according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

Eight states were not judged in the report because they are crafting current legislation. Only two states — South Dakota and Montana — received zero points for not having any legislation, with four states (Wyoming, Mississippi, Connecticut and Maryland) receiving an “F” on the report card after proposed legislation failed to pass.

Safety is the largest argument that opponents to bans make against keeping phones inaccessible, with parents voicing concerns about contacting their child during an emergency, such as a school shooting. Whitman pointed toward research from the National Association of School Resource Officers that states it is actually less safe for students to use cellphones in that scenario, as a phone chirping may alert a shooter to their location; distract students from listening to teachers during an emergency; or cause parents to flock to the school, impeding law enforcement.

“During school emergencies, worried parents understandably want desperately to contact their children and be reassured that the children are safe,” the National Association of School Resource Officers said in a statement. “The risks posed by phone access during school emergencies are even greater, however, than during normal times.”

There are laws that carve out exceptions for students with 504 plans and IEPs, which the report card does not fault, though Whitman says it becomes a slippery slope when the legislation begins to make exceptions for things like “educational purposes,” such as studying social media.

“If all teachers can decide when kids can use their phones for educational purposes, it erodes the policy,” she says.

Brian Jacob, the co-director of University of Michigan’s Youth Policy Lab, previously voiced concerns to EdSurge about legislation placing the onus on teachers.

“I fear a lot of schools will ban them but say ‘Kids have to keep them in their pockets and teachers have to police that,’ and that approach will be really tough to implement in any way,” he says, adding it is best to mandate keeping them in lockers or a centralized location.

As the organizations continue to advocate for phone-free schools, Whitman says there is also a focus on expanding that reach to school-issued technology in general. The Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project is working on introducing “Safe School Technology” legislation, which pushes for eliminating all screen technology in elementary schools, prohibiting sixth through eighth graders from taking their school-issued devices home with them and prohibiting technology that uses generative artificial intelligence across all grade levels.

“A lot of the issues with personal devices can move to the district-issued devices,” Whitman says, explaining if students do not have cellphones, they can still chat on their MacBooks, or through Google Docs. “There are definitely issues with school-issued devices as well. But removing phones is the first step.”

Defense attorneys for a Minnesota man convicted in December of assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross are seeking access to investigative files related to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, after learning Ross was the same officer who shot and killed her during a targeted operation in Minneapolis last month.

Attorneys for Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala asked a federal judge on Friday to order prosecutors to turn over training records as well as investigative files related to Ross, the ICE agent who killed Good on January 7 during Operation Metro Surge and was also injured in a June 2025 incident in which Muñoz-Guatemala dragged him with his car.

A separate post-trial motion by the defense, filed in the US District Court in Minnesota, asks the judge to pause deadlines for a new-trial motion until the discovery motion is resolved.

Muñoz-Guatemala’s attorneys argue that even if the court ultimately decides that any newly discovered evidence doesn’t entitle their client to a new trial, he’s entitled to explore whether there are mitigating factors that could impact the length of his sentence, such as whether Ross’ injuries could have been, to some degree, brought upon him by his own behavior.

A jury convicted Muñoz-Guatemala on December 10 of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon and causing bodily injury.

Court filings say that Ross and other agents were attempting to interview Muñoz-Guatemala last summer, and possibly process him for deportation, because he had an administrative warrant out for being in the country without authorization. They surrounded his Nissan Altima and attempted to remove him from the vehicle. Ross then used a tool to shatter the rear driver’s-side window before reaching inside. When the defendant accelerated away, Ross testified, he was dragged approximately 100 yards, during which time he repeatedly deployed a taser. Muñoz-Guatemala subsequently called 911 to report he’d been the victim of an assault.

During his trial, Muñoz-Guatemala said he didn’t understand that Ross—who according to his own testimony was wearing ranger green and gray and wore his badge on his belt—was a federal agent. (Ross testified that Muñoz-Guatemala had asked to speak to an attorney, which would suggest he knew Ross was acting as law enforcement, but an FBI agent who witnessed the incident said he didn’t hear this. According to court records, this claim did not come up in pretrial interviews, and prosecutors said they had not heard it before he made the claim in court.) Muñoz-Guatemala’s attorneys say now that had he been tried after Good’s killing, his defense may have also asserted that he was justified in resisting Ross, who they claim was the aggressor and used excessive force.

The argument is that the jury instructions essentially contained a two-part decision tree: Jurors could convict Muñoz-Guatemala if they believed he should have known Ross was law enforcement. They could also convict him if they believed driving away was not a reasonable response.

Muñoz-Guatemala’s conviction does not indicate which of these prongs the jury relied on. If it was the latter, the defense argues in the motion, the court should have access to evidence that may have bearing on Ross’ conduct, tactics, and whether he behaved aggressively—information that might indicate whether the agent has a history behaving recklessly in the field or contrary to his training.

Prosecutors have not yet filed a response to the motions. An email to an address associated with Ross in publicly available records did not result in an immediate response. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about Ross’ current duty status or the status of any departmental review.

Ross has been placed on administrative leave following the January 7 shooting of Good, a 37-year-old Minnesota poet and mother of three, a step DHS officials say is standard protocol after fatal use of force. Ross has not been charged in Good’s killing, and the Justice Department has said it will not pursue criminal charges.

Open source packages published on the npm and PyPI repositories were laced with code that stole wallet credentials from dYdX developers and backend systems and, in some cases, backdoored devices, researchers said.

“Every application using the compromised npm versions is at risk ….” the researchers, from security firm Socket, said Friday. “Direct impact includes complete wallet compromise and irreversible cryptocurrency theft. The attack scope includes all applications depending on the compromised versions and both developers testing with real credentials and production end-users.”

Packages that were infected were:

npm (@dydxprotocol/v4-client-js):

• 3.4.1
• 1.22.1
• 1.15.2
• 1.0.31

PyPI (dydx-v4-client):

Perpetual trading, perpetual targeting

dYdX is a decentralized derivatives exchange that supports hundreds of markets for “perpetual trading,” or the use of cryptocurrency to bet that the value of a derivative future will rise or fall. Socket said dYdX has processed over $1.5 trillion in trading volume over its lifetime, with an average trading volume of $200 million to $540 million and roughly $175 million in open interest. The exchange provides code libraries that allow third-party apps for trading bots, automated strategies, or backend services, all of which handle mnemonics or private keys for signing.

The npm malware embedded a malicious function in the legitimate package. When a seed phrase that underpins wallet security was processed, the function exfiltrated it, along with a fingerprint of the device running the app. The fingerprint allowed the threat actor to correlate stolen credentials to track victims across multiple compromises. The domain receiving the seed was dydx[.]priceoracle[.]site, which mimics the legitimate dYdX service at dydx[.]xyz through typosquatting.

I’ll admit it freely. I’m no stranger to a bit of shower karaoke. I blast my music in the shower just about every single day, and when doing so, I’ve always got one of my trusty Bluetooth speakers at my side.

As a teen, I used to just listen to music from my phone. After all, a lot of modern handsets have excellent waterproofing and protection against the elements, so it only seems natural. But oh my, was I missing out. See, there are so many amazing waterproof speakers on the market that can take shower listening to new heights – and they won’t necessarily cost you that much at all.

In fact, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best waterproof speakers with discounts right now. I’ve tried and tested every model on the list myself, and rate each of them highly across key areas like sound quality, design, and feature-sets.

A few highlights include the JBL Flip 7 from Amazon for just $99.95 (was $149.95) – a model that sits atop my guide to the best Bluetooth speakers, as well as the Bose SoundLink Plus from Amazon for only $199 (was $269), a larger speaker that’s perfect for bathroom use or getting a party started.

There’s a lot more where that came from, though. You can head over to our Presidents’ Day sales hub for more amazing offers on top tech.

More of today’s best Presidents’ Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets
• Lowe’s: up to 40% off appliances, furniture & tools
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: 40% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69
• Wayfair: 54% off furniture, rugs & decor

The Nothing Ear (a) wireless earbuds, priced at $59 (was $109), deliver impressive performance without breaking the budget. Many consider them the go-to pick for active noise cancellation in this price range, and after a closer look, you’ll see why. Nothing built these earphones with an incredibly clean, transparent stem that showcases the internal components.

Each bud weighs approximately 4.8 grams, and the charging case is so small that it fits easily into a pocket. The case’s design is inspired by pill packaging, and it does an excellent job of remaining tiny and useful. You get three sizes of silicone tips that match the color of the buds, which is a nice addition; these not only help you establish a snug fit, but they also allow you to use your buds for long periods of time without them becoming unpleasant.

Sale

Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds, 45dB Hybrid Noise Cancelling Earbuds, Hi-Res Audio, Advanced Equaliser,…

• Powerful 11 mm Driver: We’ve engineered an even more compact driver that delivers twice the power of Ear (2). In Nothing Ear (a) wireless earbuds,…
• 45 dB Smart Active Noise Cancellation: Nothing Ear (a) earbuds continuously monitors the seal between the earbud and your ear canal. If noise leakage…
• Clear Voice Technology: Crystal-clear calls, anytime, anywhere. Nothing Ear (a) ear buds isolates your voice from background noise, making on-the-go…

The sound is produced by 11mm dynamic drivers in each earbud, and the audio provides a pleasant sound with lots of bass presence, but it is not so overbearing that you become lost in the mids or higher frequencies. The companion app has a basic EQ for any modifications you may want to make, and if you have an Android, you can use the LDAC codec to stream at greater resolutions when your connection allows it. They also support AAC and SBC to ensure compatibility with almost anything else.

Active noise cancellation can reach up to 45 decibels and includes a variety of modes, including high, mid, low, and adaptive, in which the buds adapt to the seal in your ear and begin filtering out noise as they go. Transparency mode allows outside noise to be heard when necessary. The buds include six microphones that work together to make calls extremely clear, and background noise is virtually non-existent during discussions.

Battery life is one area where the Ear (a) earbuds excel, as with ANC turned off, you can get up to 9.5 hours from the buds alone or roughly 42.5 hours with the case. Even if you do turn on the noise cancellation, the playback will last for a long time before requiring another charge, and a short top-up of 10 minutes will provide you with a pleasant bit of extra time. The case itself charges via USB-C, but they’ve opted out of wireless charging to keep costs down.

The controls are all handled via pinch movements on the stems, which take some getting accustomed to but are really responsive once you’ve played around. You can control the volume by swiping, pinching to play or pause, or holding in to switch between ANC modes or access your voice assistant. They also have Bluetooth 5.3, which ensures a rock-solid connection, and multipoint pairing, which allows you to connect up to two devices and switch between them.

The Ear (a) earbuds are designed to survive some rough handling, with an IP54 classification for dust and water resistance, so you should be alright using them in the gym or outside in light rain. The case is not as durable, but it is adequate for general use. Nothing also includes a few extras, such as low-latency option for gamers to decrease annoying audio lag.

The start-up is the only Irish entry across all start-up categories to have earned a spot in the western Europe regional finals.

Hibra Design, a Cork-based vehicle specialist development company, has earned a place at the western Europe regional finals of the Global Start-up Awards (GSA). The organisation has been shortlisted in the Greentech Start-up of the Year category.

Founded in 2022 by Mike Keane, Hibra Design is an automotive engineering development company that creates sustainable and bespoke vehicle solutions with a focus on clean technology powertrain systems. The company develops new systems to allow fossil-fuel powered vehicles to be re-engineered with battery electric systems.

The GSA originated in Denmark in 2012 with the launch of the Nordic Start-up Awards. Since then, its co-founders Kim Balle and Peter Kovacs have introduced a unifying brand to connect all regional competitions under one umbrella. Currently, the competition includes 19 regions across 154 countries. 

The aim of the GSA is to empower innovative entrepreneurs, enable ecosystem collaboration and build thriving innovation economies, through global competition, events, collaboration and community building. 

Commenting on the news, Keane – who is also Hibra’s CEO – said: “Having won the 2024 Irish National Start-up award for Product and Manufacturing, we are thrilled to now see our achievements be held up against the best in the world. We develop completely new, bespoke vehicles to client specifications and we also re-engineer existing vehicles with battery electric technology for fleet operators. 

“We provide state-of-the-art solutions which offer improved vehicle performance, whilst showing a commitment to both clean technology and circular economy principles. Being named a regional finalist by the Global Start-up Awards is a powerful validation of this commitment.”

GSA finalists are selected by an expert jury sourced from across 154 countries. Category winners will be announced on 18 February, with the winners from each region progressing to the global finals in Valetta, Malta in early May. 

Also in Cork, Qualcomm Technologies recently announced a €125m investment to upgrade its Cork city site into a “strategic AI pillar” over the next three years. The investment is set to support the creation of around 300 additional roles, which will see the company’s workforce in the city grow to more than 1,000 people. 

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Cross-country skiing live streams at the 2026 Winter Olympics will inevitably see Norway claiming another clutch of medals in a test of technique, endurance and speed that’s been a mainstay of the games since its inception in 1924.

Starting on Saturday, February 7 (full schedule below), there are 12 Olympic titles up for grabs again this year, with individual, team and relay events all included. Norway have enjoyed the biggest tally of golds in the last four games running, although the ROC team pipped them to the highest medal total in China four years ago.

Stumble — a new NBC sitcom about the world of junior college cheerleading that also streams on Peacock — won’t be entertaining crowds with a new episode this week. The series, which began airing in November, stars Jen Lyon as Courteney Potter, who gets fired from her job “one championship shy of being the winningest coach in college cheer history.” Stumble follows her as she leads a new, dysfunctional cheer team at Heådltston State Junior College in Oklahoma.

The show also features Taran Killam as Courteney’s husband, and recurring and guest stars include Kristin Chenoweth, Annaleigh Ashford, Busy Philipps and Jeff Hiller. Because of the 2026 Winter Olympics, there won’t be a new Stumble installment this week or next, per NBC. Here’s when you can catch up with the show’s ragtag cheerleading squad.

When to watch more Stumble on Peacock

Stumble will be back on screens later this month. The next episode of the mockumentary series will air on NBC on Friday, Feb. 20, and stream the following day on Peacock.

• Episode 10, Finals Week, premieres on NBC on Feb. 20 at 10:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT. Streams on Peacock on Feb. 21.

Peacock offers three tiers, including a lower-priced option that includes NBC, Bravo and other TV shows. The downside is that you can’t watch Peacock Originals, movies or sports. Still, you could use the $8-per-month Select plan to watch Stumble and other shows like Yellowstone, The Office and Real Housewives. Peacock’s other plans are $11 per month Premium and $17 per month Premium Plus.

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