Student cell phone use in schools is always a hot topic issue. It’s true that technology can be a fantastic tool to visit websites, play educational games, explore the digital world, and connect with others. However, it’s clear that phone usage in the classroom has become a significant challenge.
The first part of this challenge is that cell phones in the classroom have become normalized. Many of us, young adults included, use our cell phones to live our daily lives. Without clear boundaries drawn about where and when to use phones, this leaves the classroom a challenging environment for learning.
Before delving in, it’s worth mentioning that there are reasons that access to phones is beneficial for kids and teens. The number one reason highlighted for this is safety, and that’s a very valid concern. However, it’s been stated that during a true emergency, it is likely best that kids and teens are focused on the adults in charge, rather than being fixated on their devices. That’s certainly worth some thought. Another reason for cell phones is having access to parents for support with after school activities or pickup times. This important reason does not necessitate phones being on throughout the day, though. Phones can be tucked away in pouches or left in lockers to allow access when needed. Of course, if specific students require phones for medical reasons, exceptions can be made.
With all that said, here are some reasons to consider keeping cell phones out of the classroom.
A no phone zone improves learning time.
When kids and teens are using their devices in class, they are often not learning at their best. Substantial research has highlighted that cell phone use in the classroom is linked with lower overall academic achievement. In many ways, this makes sense; smartphones provide a distraction for learners to view social media, check messages from friends, and perform other activities unrelated to learning.
Going further, research shows that simply having phones nearby lowers our cognitive performance, even if they’re not being used (Skowreonek et al., 2023). This is an amazing point to consider because it has big implications. Phones negatively impact our learning in the classroom, even if they are put in our pockets or turned upside down on our desk. Kids and teens might feel like they aren’t impacted by their phones if they aren’t actively looking at them, but the research debunks this myth. Just the possibility of getting a notification or text within arm’s reach causes our brains to be less focused (and less focused means sub-optimal learning).
Even with the best intentions of using phones in the classroom for academic content, it’s pretty clear that they distract more than they aid the actual learning going on.
Simply put, phones are often a distraction to our best learning.
When we remove the constant distraction of texts, apps, games, and alerts, we provide kids and teens with a much better opportunity to learn critical academic content. We set the stage for success.
Keeping phones away strengthens self-regulation skills.
Our self-regulation skills are limited to begin with. We only have so much ability at a time to focus, manage distractions, cope with emotions, and make positive choices. When students have phones in their pockets, they might truly try to keep them away, but all this mental effort comes at a high cost. Their limited self-regulation skills are being used to much on keeping that phone away that they’re less able to regulate other behaviors – things like focusing in class, thinking about how to express ideas, and problem-solving through a challenging problem.
Keeping your phone away provides learners with stronger self-regulation skills from the start, leaving them the mental energy for other things that truly matter.
Being present in the moment builds relationships.
Apps, websites, and messages are engaging; they’re designed to be that way! But the real moments are happening right now outside of the device. We want kids and teens to learn how to be present in the moment, engaging with those around them. Having a no-phone zone supports being more present in the “right now”. That means talking with partners, asking questions, listening to classmates, laughing at jokes, and so on.
Of course, this helps build meaningful relationships. Even the smallest opportunities for connection create stronger relationships as time goes on.
Overuse of devices can negatively impact attention skills.
Attention is an important skill we all use every day. It’s the ability we use to listen to instructions, focus while learning new content, and concentrate on challenging tasks. Overuse of devices has been shown to negatively impact these critical attention processes.
Even when we are using digital devices for academic content, there is an attention cost. As previously stated, just the proximity of our phones nearby causes us to feel distracted (even when we’re not actively using them). Students might truly do their best to keep phones away while learning, but just the mere possibility of a notification coming through means their attention skills are split.
Consider a real-life scenarios that teens might deal with. Imagine a student is trying to work through a difficult math problem, but they start to think about how a friend was going to send updates about an after school activity. This quick distraction causes a break in attention. Of course, the student can try to re-engage with the task and refocus themselves, but it doesn’t take many of these interruptions to degrade attention to the point of giving up.
Our attention skills are stronger with fewer distractions. Removing cell phones from the classroom helps prevent a big distraction from taking over all the other important learning going on.
Appropriate usage is impossible to monitor perfectly.
It’s no secret that there are a host of inappropriate websites and apps that students might have access to on their devices. While it is possible to block some websites and attempt to monitor usage during specific tasks, teachers are not able to monitor well while teaching a class. Additionally, kids and teens are quite the experts at hiding apps or getting around school-wide blocks. Even with the best intentions, it is not possible to monitor the appropriate and safe usage in most cases.
Learners need more in-person social skills interactions.
When cell phones are being used, face-to-face interactions are reduced. You are more likely to see a lunchroom filled with students on their phones instead of kids chatting with each other.
By keeping digital devices out of the classroom, we are helping to set the stage for social success. Kids and teens have more opportunities to talk, listen, notice social cues, initiate, and work through conflicts with each other. These real-life social experiences are critical to helping kids and teens learn how to navigate the social world not only in school but in all areas of their lives.
Removing phones reduces power struggles.
Having limits for cell phone usage in the classroom sounds like a great idea in theory. For example, schools may try to implement rules allowing cell phone use for educational uses only in the classroom. The issue here is that kids and teens do not have sufficient self-regulation skills to limit their own cell phone use effectively in many cases. This isn’t their fault; teens still have growing brains and the technology is designed to be addicting.
This means that at some point, students are going to have their phones out for uses outside of the academic limits. In turn, this creates power struggles between educators and students. The student might put their phone away when directed, but they might not, creating more of a back-and-forth issue. For any educator who has taught in the classroom, you know the drill. Not only is this scenario incredibly stressful for the educator, but it’s also a big distraction for the entire class.
The best proactive solution here is removing phones from the academic setting entirely, reducing the chance for power struggles to emerge.
A no cell phone zone encourages healthy boundaries.
It’s true that many people (both kids and adults) use cell phones to live their daily lives. We use cell phones to check the weather, shop, write important emails, and get important updates from family members. With all of that said, there are times where other times without phones would be beneficial. You might want to have a deep discussion with family over a dinner. You might want to enjoy a mindful walk in the park noticing nature along the way. You might want to give your future boss a great impression at a job interview. All of these examples are times when it’s important to have the skills to keep our phones away.
Setting up schools as a no cell phone zone provides an opportunity to practice healthy boundaries in life. School is where we learn, and it’s healthy to keep distractions out of the classroom.
Strategies for Managing Cell Phone Use in Schools
Developing a plan for keeping digital devices out of the classroom can be challenging. Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling:
- Advocate for cell phone free zones in school. Discuss this article and current research about cell phones with colleagues.
- Discuss with families. Get feedback from families about cell phone usage in the classroom. Not everyone is going to fully agree on a solution, but it’s a critical step to hear their feedback, challenges, needs, and ideas.
- Use phone pouches. Provide a “safe space” for phones to live throughout the class. It’s most helpful when these pouches are not accessible to students during class time.
- Discuss with students. Explain to students some of the reasons above about why they truly learn better without distractions. Discuss being present in the moment. At the same time, get input from kids and teens about which strategies work best for them to stay focused.
- Turn phones off together. At the start of each class, make it a practice to turn them off together.
- Develop a policy and create a contract. Different policies are going to work for different schools. Consider if your school should restrict cell phones only in classrooms or in all areas of the school building. Come to agreement as a school and put together a contract for everyone to read (teachers, students, and families).
Phone Research Citations
Skowronek, J., Seifert, A. & Lindberg, S. The mere presence of a smartphone reduces basal attentional performance. Sci Rep 13, 9363 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36256-4
Chen, Q., Yan, Z., Moeyaert, M., & Bangert-Drowns, R. (2024). Mobile Multitasking in Learning: A Meta-Analysis of Effects of Mobilephone Distraction on Young Adults’ Immediate Recall. Computers in Human Behavior, 157, 108432
Amez, Simon & Baert, Stijn. (2020). Smartphone use and academic performance: A literature review. International Journal of Educational Research. 103. 101618. 10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101618.
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