A recent report estimates on average, America's young people spend over seven hours a day looking at a screen. Now more than two dozen states are limiting scrolling through phones while in school.

Wayne

A comprehensive national study led by psychologist Angela Duckworth and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania has examined the impact of cell phone bans in schools. The research, which surveyed over 20,000 educators, found that limiting student access to phones during school hours leads to increased classroom engagement and reduced distractions.

At Schuyler-Cofax Middle School in New Jersey, both staff and students observed improvements in social interaction and library use after implementing a locker policy for phones. Students reported feeling more connected and less anxious, while teachers noted better focus and communication. The study's findings support the growing trend of phone-restricting policies in schools across more than 30 states, with researchers planning to release further recommendations upon the study's completion.

What happens when schools ban cell phones

A recent report estimates, on average, America's young people spend some seven and a half hours a day looking at a screen. That typically comes in the form of a cell phone. Now more than two dozen states are limiting scrolling through phones while in school. For the first time, a comprehensive study looked at the impact of these changes. We talked to one of the lead researchers at a school in New Jersey. The halls of Schuyler-Cofax Middle School are lined with posters telling students to shoot for their dreams and love the life they live. That's also the message of a new poster, no cell phones, the modern obstacle to those aspirations. Students, please take this opportunity to put your cell phones in your locker if you've not already. One thing to know about young people is that they are at a chapter in their life that is highly social. They want to know what the other kids are doing and they also want to know what the other kids think of them. And if you have a device where you can do that 24-7, that is a reason why this is a particularly challenging time of life. We spoke with renowned psychologist Angela Duckworth at the school in Wayne, New Jersey. She and her colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania have been conducting an ongoing national study regarding cell phone use in schools. Much of human history, eating the fatty sugar thing was good, pursuing novel information was good, engaging with social information was good. I think it's a modern day dilemma that many of these things that from an evolutionary perspective were reasonably good instincts, you know, they're getting us into trouble because of excess. Students Mohamed Darwash and Irene Shizas are eighth graders at Schuyler-Cofax. So tell me the story of your relationship with your iPhone. I'm not proud of it really. Do you feel that pull of the smartphone? Oh yeah. And I feel that social media actually causes drama where you see somebody doing this when you told them that you were doing that. Because location, on like the Snapchat and whatever else, it's just so dehumanizing. The effect of smartphones, says Heather Weinstein, the middle school principal at Schuyler-Cofax, can be seen across a range of student behavior. A lack of social interaction, distractibility, lack of attention to focus and detail. They just weren't really communicating with each other. I think a lot of the social media platforms that they engage in, it causes them nervousness and anxiety. The key to helping students, according to the data, says Duckworth, is creating a physical barrier. Schools can help young people manage this impulse to check their phone simply by creating physical distance between the student and the phone itself. And that's not willpower. That is situation modification. I think part of the reason it worked was because we allowed them to understand it wasn't punitive. It was, we explained the why. Right, we're finishing up those questions. Support for cell phone bans has increased nationwide and more than 30 states now have phone restricting policies. Duckworth's research from over 20,000 educators affirms this shift. Students who are in bell to bell schools are, according to their teachers, more often engaged in class, less often distracted by phones in class. At Schuyler, Colfax, library use has nearly doubled, from 300 books checked out to 600 since the locker policy started. The students feel it, too. Even this last year, actually, I can definitely tell you that I made so many more connections just without my phone being on me. I feel like all of us just talk more, we laugh more. All the students, we just feel more alive without our cell phones. Fewer phones, more life. Just what the posters promised. When the survey study ends, researchers plan to release recommendations for managing student cell phone use.

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