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Should Schools Ban Cellphones?

September 16, 2024

Americans find it hard to put down their cellphones, and students are no exception. Ninety-seven percent of 11- to 17-year-olds use their phones in school, according to a study by Common Sense Media—often during class.

Teachers report that students are messaging, shopping online, watching videos—and it’s disrupting teaching and learning. Most schools have rules regulating cellphone use, but they don’t always enforce them.

Some lawmakers are taking action. Three states—Florida, Indiana, and Ohio—have enacted policies that restrict or ban students from using cellphones. Several other states and many school districts are considering similar measures.

Not everyone agrees. Some educators say cellphones enrich students’ lives and can play a positive role in education.

So should schools ban cellphones? A state governor and a district superintendent square off on the question.

Last year, I visited high schools in all 29 counties in Utah. In each auditorium filled with hundreds of students, I posed the question: Who thinks social media is bad for your mental health? Nearly every student raised their hand.

Cellphones can connect us to our family and friends. They give us instant access to news and information from around the world, making them fantastic research tools. And they open up endless possibilities for entertainment.

But it’s no secret that cellphones and social media apps can be a distraction and even an addiction. If there’s any doubt, just keep track of how many times an hour you are interrupted by a text, an email, or an alert. Each time your phone dings, you lose focus on what you were doing. And once you’re on your phone, you’ll likely check a social media site—and that’s where the addictive algorithms kick in.

Don’t just take my word for it. As the social scientist Jonathan Haidt notes in The Atlantic, study after study shows that students who use phones in class learn less and get lower grades. And the U.S. Surgeon General has warned that children and teens who spend three-plus hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety.

Cellphones distract students and pose severe mental health risks.

Just imagine what a phone-free school environment would look like. Students would be able to focus on assignments and exams during class time. Bullying on social media would decrease. Friendships and social interactions would increase—a protective factor against mental health issues. And teachers wouldn’t have to compete with Instagram and YouTube.

Earlier this year, I sent a letter to Utah’s state board of education, outlining my concerns and urging a cellphone ban in classrooms. Technology can be a tremendous teaching tool, but there is a time and a place for phones, which are a constant distraction and a barrier to good mental health. Let’s leave these devices at the classroom door.

—SPENCER COX
Governor of Utah

We should not impose blanket bans on cellphones. Instead, we should approach cellphone use as an opportunity to teach students skills that could improve their lives—as students and as adults in the workplace. By banning phones, we’re telling students that we don’t trust them to use these devices properly in an educational setting, and we fail to embrace a tool that, I believe, has more potential than any other device on the planet.

To be clear, I don’t think a district’s policy should allow students to use cellphones in the classroom unless the teacher permits it. But many educators do permit it, and they’ve begun teaching students to use their devices in ways that help them stay organized, meet deadlines, and quickly locate reliable information. For example, asking students to enter their assignments in Google Keep, set a deadline reminder on Google Calendar, or bookmark a TedTalk they can listen to for homework are all common tasks that have improved academic outcomes.

Students can and should learn to use their devices responsibly.

The reality is that cellphones have become integral to our lives and will be for the foreseeable future. So it makes sense to prepare students to take advantage of the opportunities these devices can bring them in their future careers. In our district, we’ve begun offering coding classes in how to develop iPhone apps that solve real-world problems. Students learn how to photograph and edit with their phones in art class, and in business class they learn how to use their phones to crowdfund their entrepreneurial ambitions and use social media platforms like Meta, Instagram, and LinkedIn to promote and run their businesses in affordable ways.

I recognize that cellphones can be a major distraction if students don’t use them responsibly. But if they can learn to use their phones in creative and strategic ways, they’ll become productive and responsible digital citizens.

—NEIL LESINSKI
Superintendent, Community High School District 155, Crystal Lake, Illinois

97%

PERCENTAGE of 11–17-year olds who use their cellphones during the school day.