School Phone Bans Are Coming — & They Might Not Be as Helpful as Parents Hope

Thousands of parents across the country were notified that when the 2025-2026 school year begins, phones — and electronic communication devices of any kind — were banned on school property. Kids are asked not just to keep phones in lockers or put them away in class, but to actually avoid having them at school at all. But don’t cheer yet. Experts warn this is not necessarily the only solution to the next generation’s phone addiction — and much more work needs to be done.

According to TIME, 37 states have banned cell phones and other internet-connected devices during class as of this summer. Half of those states and D.C. don’t allow kids to access their phones even during lunch and in between classes.

Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an organization of parents, educators, and advocates working to combat social media addiction in kids, told Time, “To be frank, I thought we’d be socializing the idea of phone-free schools with state legislators this year. The fact that so many of these bills have already passed is a testament to how quickly this movement is coming together and to how angry parents are.”

The Anxious Generation’s Impact

This is what The Anxious Generation author Jonathan Haidt wants, along with no phones before high school and no social media until age 16. “The Anxious Generation has turbocharged everything, but a lot of these pieces were coming together before that,” Golin told the outlet, adding, “There’s now community in resisting the phone-based childhood.”

A July report from the Pew Research Center found that 74 percent of U.S. adults support banning cellphones in middle and high school classrooms and 44 percent want them banned the entire school day. The majority of Americans studied believed that these cell phone bans would benefit students’ social skills, grades, and behavior in class, although only 37 percent believed it would have a positive impact on the kids’ physical safety. This highlights one reason kids may be getting phones in the first place: parents are too worried and overprotective to let them out of their sight without a way to contact them.

In fact, giving kids more freedom is another idea pushed by Haidt, whose recent study found that fewer than half of 8- and 9-year-olds were allowed to go down a grocery-store aisle by themselves. “Children want to meet up in person, no screens or supervision,” Haidt and his co-authors wrote recently in an article in The Atlantic. “But because so many parents restrict their ability to socialize in the real world on their own, kids resort to the one thing that allows them to hang out with no adults hovering: their phones.”

Safety Concerns

“If there’s a way that a kid can walk a few blocks to a store and buy something, at age 8, they should be doing that,” Haidt previously told SheKnows. “And the kids who go out and do something, they come back and they’re jumping up and down. They are so excited. It has a huge impact on the kids, but the really important thing is that it has an impact on the parents, because we don’t know what the right age is to let them out. We’re afraid.”

Teens are afraid to not have their phones as well. In a previous interview with SheKnows, many teens cited safety as their reason for wanting a phone on-hand at school. “A lot of school shootings have still been happening recently, and I feel like students should be able to have their phones in case of emergencies,” one student said.

Another revealed, “Not only do I like having my phone, it’s also like a safety thing too. I would just feel a little more comfortable with it.”

“People need to communicate to family members. I know I talk to my mom all the time,” one teen shared.

Other teens shared that they don’t agree with all-day bans, although they could get on board with no scrolling during lessons.

What Teachers Think

So far, teachers have been praising the school phone bans. In the “Teachers” subreddit, people are saying that these bans are “better for the kids and teachers.”

One person shared their experience since school started. “Two weeks into the year with our state’s new ‘anti distraction’ law and this morning there were kids reading books, playing chess, playing a card game, practicing guitar, playing a ton of grab-ass (it’s middle school….), and just like, interacting with each other. It’s kind of amazing?” one teacher wrote.

“It’s day 3 of my cell phone ban and it’s been great so far,” another teacher said. “I haven’t had to take one up yet, but I have my little baggie and a sharpie ready to write their name on it. Phones aren’t a problem anymore.”

“Our school adopted zero cell phone policy last year,” someone else shared. “By December, most parents and (get this) students loved it. Kids felt less pressured to keep up online and interacted in real life better. Parents talked to their kids before school to make plans. As always, there is a still a small percent of vocally displeased parents, but they will always find something to complain about.”

If you live in an area where these bans are new, hopefully this will give you some encouragement that it’ll go well.

How Kids Use Phones

A new study in JAMA Network Open analyzed data from the Aura app, which monitors youth device activity. Data from over 11,000 students ages 10 to 17 across 600,000 days of smartphone activity found that students were spending nearly an hour per day on their smartphones at school, with most of this time spent on social media (most commonly TikTok, then YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat).

Dr. Scott Kollins, Chief Medical Officer at Aura, a clinical psychologist and a co-author on the study, offered some insight into these results. “While phones can support learning when used intentionally, constant notifications and app-hopping during class interrupt focus, reduce engagement, and over time, can chip away at a student’s ability to stay present, regulate emotions, or build resilience,” Dr. Kollins tells SheKnows.

He adds, “We’ve seen how screen overuse can affect kids’ mental health and social development. For younger students, those are critical skills still in development. This data gives parents and educators a clearer picture of what’s happening in classrooms, and a starting point to help them build better digital habits.”

Banning them is a good start, but it’s also unlikely to be totally effective.

“Phones aren’t going anywhere, and if kids want to use them during class, they’ll likely find a way,” Dr. Kollins says. “In fact, early research suggests school phone bans don’t significantly impact kids’ academic success or mental health. That’s not to say school policies don’t matter, but restriction alone won’t solve the problem.”

This tracks with what teens themselves think. In our interview with teens, one shared, “If you have strict parents, you’re going to be a sneakier kid.” They added, “I feel like that transfers over to school. Students will become more sneaky. Maybe they have like a backup phone or something.”

How Can Parents Help?

So how do we really help break our kids’ phone addictions? Dr. Kollins says, “we need to understand why kids are reaching for their phones in the first place.” In order to do this, Dr. Kollins recommends teaching our kids digital literacy, encouraging open conversations about screen times, and helping kids set healthy boundaries.  

Banning phones in school alone isn’t enough to change how kids view cell phones. “Whether a school bans phones or not, parents still play a big role in shaping how kids use tech,” Dr. Kollins says. “That means setting clear expectations at home, encouraging screen-free time, and checking in regularly — not just about what apps they’re using, but why.”

Digital lives shouldn’t replace real-world interactions, Dr. Kollins emphasizes. “Kids need both: space to explore who they are online, and support to build offline friendships and self-awareness.”

“Kids don’t always realize how much time they’re spending online, or how it’s affecting them,” he adds. “As a parent myself, I know it’s not always easy. But when we stay engaged and lead with curiosity rather than control, we give our kids the tools to self-regulate…both inside and outside the classroom.”

Before you go, check out these celebrities who have shared their technology rules for their kids.