Should Schools Ban Cell Phone Use During Class Time?

On September 23, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Phone-Free Schools Act into law. This legislation requires all public schools in California to develop and implement policies restricting student cell phone use during school hours — unless they are needed for individualized instruction, medical necessity or an emergency situation.¹

Meanwhile, Florida banned phones altogether as of July 1 of this year.¹

In Connecticut, the State Board of ED introduced voluntary guidelines this past summer allowing individual school districts to design their own policies. Guidelines suggest that elementary and middle schools remove all cell phones and similar devices — but they do not mandate it.¹

Indiana is a little stricter, having passed a law that went into effect July 1 of this year requiring all educational institutions to establish guidelines for prohibiting phone use in classrooms.¹

In Delaware, money has been set aside for a cell phone pilot program that will require students to put their phones in pouches during the school day.¹

And the variations continue, state by state.

But why?

There is a large body of literature that looks at smartphone use and academic performance. As might be expected, using smartphones in school is associated with poorer course comprehension, lower GPAs, poor sleep quantity, decreased life satisfaction, and higher rates of anxiety, loneliness, and depression.³ It has been well documented that cell phone use in class is also a common source of distraction and leads to decreased focus.²

In a study of college students, one group whose cell phones were removed was compared to another group of students who were allowed to keep their cell phones. Results indicated that students whose smartphones were physically removed during class had higher levels of course comprehension, lower levels of anxiety, and higher levels of mindfulness than the control group.³

We know that cell phone use at school also facilitates cheating on tests, as well as allowing sexting and cyberbullying during class time.

So why have we not done more to help our kids stay away from their cell phones during the school day?

Well, as it turns out, parents don't always like cell phone bans. When The Department of Education in New York City implemented a district-wide cell phone ban in 2005, parents sued. They weren't successful in overturning the ban, but they did spend a considerable amount of resources to challenge the ban. Lawyers for the parents argued that the board overreached its authority by denying parents their constitutional right to stay in contact with their children in school. The challenger also alleged that the cell phone ban violated the U.S. Constitution because it “infringed on parents’ fundamental right to provide for the care, custody, and control of their children” (Price et al. v. New York City Board of Education, 2007, p. 7).⁴

Banning or restricting cell phone use in schools is extremely controversial. In an article summarizing the lawsuits that have been brought against schools that implemented policies restricting cell phone use, the authors concluded that to prevent further law suits, educational leaders need to develop cell phone use policies and apply them carefully when disciplining students who violate their provisions. The authors of the review found that the courts are generally willing to defer to the authority of educators to enact reasonable cell phone policies in order to preserve school safety and security and they recommended that school officials limit the amount of time spent policing cell phone policies by planning carefully when instituting such policies.

Where do you stand on your kids using their phones in school?

Is your desire to communicate with your child during the school day more powerful than your wish to protect your child from distraction during class?

Think about it.