Students are happier in phone-free schools, but test scores aren't up yet

Teachers report fewer distractions when students are required to lock up their phones for the day, according to a new study. After the first year, student well-being improved. But academic achievement was about the same for schools that adopted phone bans in 2022 and 2023, reports Greg Toppo on The 74. Students whose schools banned phones in 2024 did have higher test scores, said Thomas Dee, a Stanford education economist who co-authored the study. He's not sure why.

Researchers used data from Yondr, which sells lockable phone pouches to 4,600 schools.

Phone usage dropped dramatically in schools with bell-to-bell bans, the study found. In the first year, suspensions rose, but that effect faded in subsequent years. Student were less happy in the first year -- they missed their phones -- but happier in the second year. The study found no significant effect on attendance or students' reports of online bullying and classroom attention.

It's early days, says Dee. “I firmly believe that getting student phone use down, recapturing their attention in classrooms within schools, is a critical antecedent to realizing their academic potential.”

In Cape Girardeau, Mo., the deputy superintendent, Brice Beck, said Yondr pouches "had become a potent tool for attracting and retaining skilled teachers eager to work in more focused classrooms," reports Dana Goldstein in the New York Times.

He's also encouraged to see students socializing again. “At lunch you will see all these kids, they’re talking to one another. It's a lot louder, but the good kind of loud.”

About two-thirds of district and school leaders and teachers reported that student cellphone restrictions had a positive impact on student learning, behavior, overall mental health and well-being, and engagement, in an EdWeek Research Center survey, reports Alyson Klein in Education Week.

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation and a strong proponent of cellphone bans, tweeted that "the damage from distraction and fragmented attention has been compounding for years, and it may take years to turn it around -- especially if newly phone-free students can just turn to their school-issued Chromebooks and iPads for distraction during class."

He also noted that "some schools report big increases in library books taken out."