A growing number of school and district leaders are grappling with a daunting question: Should they ban cellphones at school?
Cellphones are a certified nuisance for some educators. They sap them of their will to teach as they fight a losing battle with social media and incoming text messages for their students’ attention spans. A growing number of studies have linked smartphone and social media use to deteriorating mental health among young children. Social media, specifically, has been linked to an increased risk of depression in girls, and the U.S. surgeon general argues that it should come with a warning label when used by children under 14.
The challenges facing youth mental health, student well-being, and behavior have prompted at least 10 states to pass laws or enact policies that ban or restrict the use of cellphones in schools statewide, or recommend local districts enact their own bans or restrictive policies, according to an Education Week analysis.
If schools totally or partially ban cellphones, school leaders and educators have to navigate the tricky gap between policy and implementation. Each decision—like letting students use their phones in the hallways but not in class—will lead to intended and unintended consequences.
For instance, not having a uniform cellphone policy for classrooms could put undue pressure on teachers to figure it out on their own. Parents also have a wide range of sometimes strong opinions about whether their children should be allowed to have their phones handy.
There are costs to consider, too, if schools have to lock away students’ phones at the beginning of each day. Companies that provide phone storage pouches, like Yondr, can charge districts up to $30 per student.
Administrators need a decisionmaking tool that can help them map out the different outcomes to consider when putting cellphone policies in play. Education Week has put together a resource that can help, based on extensive research and reporting.
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Additional Reading
Dive deep into the debate on cellphones in K-12 schools—bans, restrictions, classroom learning tools, and more.
