The Nation’s Report Card released Long-Term Trend assessment data this morning, and the findings are mixed. While 9-year-olds are making progress in math and reading, 13-year-olds have stagnant scores. Across the board, students are largely working below levels seen during the pandemic and around 2012 when achievement was at a high point.

In math, where the declines are sharpest, average scores for 13-year-olds are down roughly 10 points from just before the pandemic and around 15 points from 2012. Average math scores for 9-year-olds are still down too, though they’re now moving in the right direction.

The new report shows trends dating to the 1970s. In reading, 13-year-olds are still working at the same levels as their counterparts then. The report also includes survey questions about student experiences in and outside of school. The share of 9- and 13-year-olds who report they read for fun most days is stuck at historic lows. For example, just 14% of adolescents say they generally read on their own daily. That’s the same as in 2023, but it’s down significantly from 35% in 1985, when the question was first asked. Among 9-year-olds, 37% read almost every day, down from 53% in 1984.

In addition, the share of 9- and 13-year-olds who say they talk about the things they’re learning in school with their family nearly every day is low. Only 1 in 5 13-year-olds report having these regular conversations. Among 9-year-olds, about a third have these talks just about daily. As a book lover, and mom to two school-aged boys, all that hits hard.

I hear all the time from parents who have been told their child is fine but have started to suspect that story is not the whole picture. These new NAEP results confirm something the country has been slow to address: Average scores for students peaked a decade and a half ago.

It’s important to look at what’s changed in schools if parents, policymakers and educators want to improve them. Around the time these declines began, after decades of progress, there was a loosening of policies around the country that brought attention and focus to achievement and made schools more accountable for learning gains.

As accountability loosened, distractions expanded.

The iPhone launched in 2007, when the 13-year-olds working at the 2012 high water mark were 8 years old. Instagram launched when they were 11. They were likely aware of these products and platforms during their adolescent years but not immersed in them. This 2012 cohort may be the last whose childhood happened mostly off a personal screen. It’s notable that students in subsequent grades did worse academically.

The country has spent the last year or so debating phones and artificial intelligence in schools, and confidence in education technology is low. In a recent , half of students said using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers. But the cost of letting that collective distrust harden into blanket rejection is high.

When I taught special education students in New York City, the children in my classroom were the ones a ban on technology would have hurt most. I’ve seen the value of tech tools that help identify learning gaps and support accessibility. It’s imperative for teachers and school and system leaders to be able to tell the difference between research-based learning resources and distraction engines, and be clear in articulating that distinction to parents and teachers.

It is possible to return to an era of progress across subjects and grades if state, district and school leaders focus on creating strong, coherent teaching and learning strategies, taking responsibility for what is and isn’t happening in schools, and building lasting trust with students, families and teachers. Here are ways to help make that happen.

Tell parents the truth, clearly. Schools can send families regular updates on individual student performance and outline how they are addressing areas of concern. States like Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana are starting to promote these practices, and Mississippi provides reports to parents when students need extra help with literacy. But many state and school systems are not being transparent with parents, and are doing much of the hiding.

Make the school-to-home conversation easier. My family gets regular emails home from school with updates and questions that can spark face-to-face conversations with our children. On busy and chaotic days, it’s so helpful to have a prepared question to ask a student, like, “Today in math, children estimated the circumference of a pumpkin or apple by cutting a string and comparing it to their fruit. Ask your child which fruit they chose, and whether their string came out longer or shorter.”

Make AI governance a discipline, not a slogan. AI guidelines must actually be used in schools, not just filed away. They must be clear so they enable school and system leaders to make decisions quickly, learn from what’s happening and adjust as evidence comes in. States and districts should name outcomes before naming tools, audit what they already pay for and design for safety before scale. And, of course, parents and educators should be included at every stage of this work.

Teach every child how to decide. The Alliance for Decision Education and the Burning Glass Institute reviewed 6.8 million U.S. job postings and found 41% required decision- making skills. Educators must help young people understand information they encounter by teaching strong analytical, critical thinking and other skills that will always be in demand. Ensuring that students read broadly, are exposed to a range of perspectives and debate ideas across subjects is a good start.

Put real books back in children’s hands. Schools and libraries should make space and time for kids to pick books they actually want. Let their curiosity be the spark and their choice be the fun. Adults can put reading time on the family calendar. Educators and leaders can offer support for parents who haven’t read aloud since they were kids.

Today, 13-year-olds in the U.S. read at roughly the same achievement level as the federal government assessed more than 50 years ago 鈥� a worrisome sign that education isn’t progressing over time as it should. I don’t believe the solution can be bought or banned. It requires real books, engaging learning opportunities, evidence-based approaches and meaningful data accompanied by the will to act on it. 

More significantly, after Florida鈥檚 2023 ban went into effect, student performance on reading and math tests improved modestly, at least in one large district studied, with scores up by about 3.5 percentage points in its second year. Schools with the highest pre-ban cellphone use saw the largest positive impacts.

But a pair of researchers studying the state鈥檚 first-in-the-nation statewide cellphone ban also tracked a 25% spike in suspension rates in the first year, with the biggest impacts on Black students. At schools with high levels of pre-ban cellphone use, the rate of in-school suspensions for Black students rose by 30%, while rates for white and Hispanic students remained steady. 

In the second year of the ban, disciplinary rates returned to pre-ban levels. Those findings are similar to those of a national study on cellphone bans published last week.

Researchers David Figlio and Umut 脰zek also found 鈥渟ignificant reductions鈥� in the number of unexcused absences in both the first and second years after the ban, especially among middle and high school students. That drop in absences could also help explain, in part, the better test scores, they said.

The Florida ban, adopted in May 2023, made cellphones off-limits to students during instructional time, but allowed local districts to impose additional restrictions according to their needs. 

Figlio, an economist at the University of Rochester, noted that Florida is an unusual place to study the topic, since it was one of the first states 鈥渢o really get back to normal in schooling鈥� after the shock of the COVID pandemic and widespread school closures. 

鈥淪chooling was business as usual in the 2020-2021 academic year in Florida,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淚t was not business-as-usual in almost any other part of the country.鈥� That could have delayed potential academic improvements around cellphone bans in other states, he theorized. 

Figlio said the discipline data is concerning, since phone-related suspensions were, at least at first, 鈥渄isproportionately borne by male students and especially by Black students.鈥� 

While it鈥檚 possible that Black students were simply violating the rules more often, it鈥檚 also possible that the rules 鈥渨ere being more heavily enforced鈥� for these students. 鈥淲henever I see any evidence of disproportionality in terms of any policy, that’s always a cause for concern for me. And so that’s what I’ll call the dark lining in what I think is a silver cloud.鈥�

When Figlio and 脰zek鈥檚 findings appeared last fall as a in the journal of the National Bureau of Economic Research, they were the first to look at a universal school cellphone ban policy. A newer paper, also published by the bureau, studied nationwide data on cellphone bans compiled by Yondr, a California startup that makes lockable pouches for schools, businesses and entertainment venues. 

That paper, released May 4 by a team led by the Stanford researcher and Duke University鈥檚 , found that school cellphone bans don鈥檛 typically bring improved academic achievement or better behavior, as many advocates have hoped.

Figlio suggested that the broader look at cellphone restrictions could have been subject to a kind of 鈥減ost-COVID transition period鈥� that showed slower academic improvement. 

In their study, Allcott, Baron and colleagues called the Yondr restrictions 鈥減articularly stringent and physically binding,鈥� suggesting that they provide a way to measure cellphone restrictions more accurately than 鈥渘o-see鈥� policies that simply ask students to keep phones powered off and hidden. They also said the national scope of their study 鈥減rovides substantial statistical power鈥� to examine the policy across different schools. 

In an interview, Stanford economist , one of the researchers working with Alcott and Baron, said no-see policies are inconsistently and unevenly enforced. 鈥淲e wanted to leverage the data from Yondr because it gives us much more confidence that in-school use of phones is actually being restricted,鈥� he said.

The new paper by Figlio and 脰zek, appearing Tuesday in the journal , updates data on cellphone restrictions nationwide to include policies newly in effect this spring.

It looks at an unnamed Florida district which is one of the nation鈥檚 largest 鈥� the list of the 10 largest U.S. district includes 鈥� where local leaders imposed a 鈥渂ell-to-bell鈥� ban that prohibits using phones, earbuds and smartwatches throughout the entire school day, including noninstructional time. 

The new rules went into effect at the start of the 2023鈥�24 school year. After Labor Day, if a student violated the rules, their device was confiscated and returned at the end of the day, with the option for suspension. 

The district carried out the state ban as a 鈥渘o-see鈥� or 鈥渙ff-and-away鈥� policy, Figlio said, so the expectation was that students had their phones off and out of sight. A few schools used the lockable pouches, he said 鈥� schools in all five of the state鈥檚 biggest districts had Yondr accounts 鈥� but pouches were 鈥渘ot the dominant form of enforcement.鈥�

Figlio sees the two studies as complementary, comprising 鈥渢wo different ways you can really study this topic credibly,鈥� especially as some places implement 鈥渘o-see鈥� policies and others rely on pouches. He noted that both studies, in effect, find 鈥渮ero-to-small positive test score improvements鈥� initially, but more positive results after that. 

A 2024 found that about one in three teachers consider students distracted by cellphones 鈥渁 major problem.鈥� Among high school teachers, that figure rises sharply, to 72%. More recently, Pew researchers in July 2025 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning cellphones during class for middle and high school students, up from 68% late 2024. 

Figlio said a future version of the Florida study will also track evidence that student reports of classroom climate, school climate and teacher-student interactions improve under cellphone bans. After a short negative period, students also report improved well-being.

鈥淲henever we introduce new policies and they really take off like wildfire, I think a lot of people are hoping that they’re going to find that this is ‘The Solution,’鈥� Figlio said.

In the end, what both studies find is that cellphone bans 鈥渁re not a panacea,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he biggest thing that these cellphone bans did was dramatically reduce student use of cellphones in the school,鈥� Figlio said. 鈥淔or people who think that’s a good thing for any number of reasons, that’s a good thing 鈥� that’s a sign that cellphone bans worked. For people who were expecting this to lead to a major turnaround in the 鈥榓chievement recession,鈥� where achievement had been dipping even before COVID and continued to dip following COVID, I think they’re going to be disappointed.鈥�

If the hope was that ridding classrooms of mobile phones would bring about a much better world for learning, that has not quite materialized 鈥� at least, not yet. Stanford and Duke university scholars joined those from the universities of Michigan and Pennsylvania to conduct the of school cellphone bans using data compiled from secure pouch-maker Yondr.

The study encompassed 4,600 schools and, as my colleague Greg Toppo reported this week, found that attendance, attention and bullying were largely unaffected by locking phones away, while academic achievement gains were minimal. But other school climate factors rose and fell in noteworthy ways 鈥� discipline worsened, then improved, and student well-being dipped before bouncing back. 

Restrictions or prohibitions on cellphones have been embraced by at least 37 states and the District of Columbia. Not surprisingly, teachers and parents are typically in favor, while students are largely against. 

Stanford economist Thomas Dee admitted that the results could be seen as sobering and somewhat disappointing, but said more time was needed to really gauge impact. Researchers studied three groups of schools, which banned phones starting in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

鈥淚 firmly believe that getting student phone use down, recapturing their attention in classrooms within schools, is a critical antecedent to realizing their academic potential,鈥� he said.

While not part of this study, one related data point being trumpeted by cellphone ban supporters: After taking away students鈥� phones, Dallas Independent School District in school library book checkouts, from 872,430 in the first seven months of last school year to 1 million over the same period this year.

In the news

Ban on AI companions for kids advances on Capitol Hill: A Senate bill that would bar artificial intelligence companions from interacting with children and teens received unanimous approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30 and now awaits Senate floor action. The measure would also require age verification for all users to interact with AI chatbots and subject chatbot makers to potential criminal penalties of up to $100,000 per offense if their tools describe or engage in sexually explicit content or encourage or promote physical or sexual violence with someone younger than 18. | 

• Dig Deeper: 
   

The National Education Association, the country鈥檚 largest teachers union, is facing charges it created hostile work environments and discriminated against Jewish members. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over reported harassment of Jewish members at the union鈥檚 Representative Assembly meeting last July. The complaint alleges they were surrounded and screamed at during a debate on cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League, and face other types of discrimination. The union denies tolerating antisemitism. | 

About that ChatGPT study. It鈥檚 been retracted. Citing 鈥渄iscrepancies鈥� in the analysis and a lack of confidence in the conclusions, British-German publisher Springer Nature has retracted a study that claimed OpenAI鈥檚 ChatGPT can positively impact student learning. The unusual move came nearly a year after its publication and after the study had accumulated hundreds of citations and lots of social media hits. |   

The Vermont Principals鈥� Association paid $566,000 to a Christian school that was barred from participating in state sports after it refused in 2023 to compete against a girls鈥� basketball team that included a transgender player. The money settled a lawsuit brought by the Mid Vermont Christian School and two of its families. They were represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, one of several 鈥渙ut-of-state conservative legal groups (that) have had a growing presence in Vermont鈥檚 courts鈥� litigating education and other cases. | 

A state audit found a host of weaknesses in how New York City public schools protects the data privacy of its 900,000 students. It pointed to major gaps in state-required data security policies and vulnerabilities in how student information is tracked, secured and managed. The nation鈥檚 largest school district has experienced several data breaches in recent years, including through third-party vendors like Illuminate and PowerSchool. |

• Read more: 

While TikTok and Instagram are scrutinized, YouTube rules in school. One Kansas mom logged on to her seventh grader鈥檚 school Google account last year to find that he had accessed more than 13,000 YouTube videos during school hours in two months. Schools鈥� overreliance on the Google-owned platform for educational content has opened the door to infinite video scrolling by students on their school-issued devices. |  

Connecticut lawmakers approved the state鈥檚 first homeschool regulations over the objections of Republicans and organized homeschooling families, who see the legislation as an attack on their parental rights. The rules will require all families to submit a yearly form stating how their children will be educated and will prohibit anyone from removing a child from school in order to homeschool if they are on the state child abuse or neglect registry or are being investigated by child protective services. Two homeschool students have died in the state in the past six months. | 

The algorithmic school-to-prison pipeline: With little transparency or oversight, technology is being used to flag youth as risks to public safety and deciding who is surveilled, arrested and confined. But young people haven鈥檛 been passive in the face of these systems. They鈥檝e been among the most effective organizers against them. And they鈥檝e been winning. | 

ICYMI @The74

Emotional Support

Mika looks back and gives a smile to her human, 社区黑料鈥檚 editor-in-chief Nicole Ridgway, on a sunny spring day in Prospect Park. 

A University of Southern California published Monday surveyed roughly 1,700 parents and 364 students ages 13 to 17 last fall. Researchers used the annual to analyze students鈥� cellphone use and their , along with parents’ perceptions of the restrictions. At least have some form of ban or limitation on cellphones during instructional time.

About 98% of students attend schools with cell phone restrictions, according to the study. Some 76% of teens and 93% of parents said they support some type of ban. 

But the researchers found that students still use their cellphones in school. About two-thirds of teens at schools with complete phone bans said they use their device during the day, including in class, and more than half of students whose school restricts cellphones during instructional time don鈥檛 follow the rules.

鈥淭he results are pointing towards both parents and teens wanting to have at least some form of restrictions on cell phone use in classrooms 鈥� neither are reporting major downsides,鈥� said Anna Saavedra, one of the study鈥檚 researchers. 鈥�(Students and parents) are really supportive of the restrictions and they even support making rules stronger. Part of the challenge has been that even though schools have these rules, teens are telling us that they’re breaking them.鈥�

Most students reported two categories of cellphone bans: either prohibiting use for the entire day or only during instructional time. Nearly 75% of teens said that no matter the policy, their school still lets them keep their phones with them. Some 5% said their school doesn鈥檛 permit cellphones on school property. 

The study also found that teens use their phone in school for an average of 1.5 hours a day regardless of the type of ban. That matches other that found students ages 13 to 18 spend an average of 70 minutes on their smartphones during the school day, typically using social media or gaming apps. 

Restricting cellphone use only during class instruction is a rule that 68% of students and 53% of parents support. About 24% of teens and 7% of parents said they would prefer no restrictions.

Overall, 42% of teens and 76% of parents said their schools’ rules are 鈥渏ust right.鈥� About 48% of students and 8% of parents thought they were too strict. Half of students said their school鈥檚 rules were different and stricter than the previous year’s. 

Most teachers enforce phone policies, according to the study. Nearly two-thirds of students said their teacher gives a verbal warning if someone breaks the rules. Other common consequences include taking the device away for the rest of class or for the entire day; notifying parents; giving detention; or requiring a parent to pick up the phone.

Though the rise of smartphones has been linked to negative student outcomes like poor academic achievement, the teens and adults surveyed by USC said they don鈥檛 believe cellphone policies have much of an effect. The majority said the rules had no impact in areas such as sense of community, relationships with teachers and bullying or fighting. The majority of students also said there was no effect on academic performance, making friends or their likelihood of attending school.

About 28% of the teens said the rules made the classroom learning environment better, while 26% said they made it worse. One-third of students said the policies improve academic integrity or reduce cheating, while 19% said the opposite.

A recent University of Pennsylvania of 20,000 educators found that stricter cell phone policies are associated with more positive outcomes reported by teachers. Nearly half of schools in the study have a 鈥渘o show鈥� rule 鈥� where students can have their phones if they keep them out of sight 鈥� but this policy isn鈥檛 as effective as more restrictive rules. 

鈥淭he stricter the policy, the happier the teacher and the less likely students are to be using their phones when they aren鈥檛 supposed to,鈥� said University of Pennsylvania Professor Angela Duckworth about the data. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also finding that focus on academics is higher in schools that do not permit students to keep their phones nearby, including in their backpacks or back pockets.鈥�

Disclosure: The Overdeck Family Foundation provides financial support to 社区黑料.

SAN MATEO, Calif. 鈥� On a cool Friday morning in April, the halls of California鈥檚 San Mateo High School were full of students chatting, running to class or trying to find their friends.

But one common sight in high schools across the country was and always is absent from the halls of San Mateo: cellphones.

鈥淲hen you look at the crowd, kids are not buried in their phone,鈥� said Yvonne Shiu, the school鈥檚 principal. 鈥淭hey have grown to value being in the moment.鈥�

Students at the public high school about 20 minutes south of San Francisco have been prohibited since 2019 from using their cellphones while in school 鈥� from bell to bell. Schools nationwide, including some in Maryland, are now increasingly imposing such bans, but San Mateo was one of the earliest and largest schools in the country to implement a complete ban on cellphones during school hours.

At the start of each day, each of the 1,600 students lock their phone in a magnetically sealed pouch, created by the San Francisco-based company Yondr, that won鈥檛 be opened until the school day ends.

The decision to introduce Yondr pouches was the school鈥檚 attempt to tackle the increasingly pervasive effects of cellphone and social media overuse on its student body: cyberbullying, loss of sleep, self-esteem issues and endless distractions in class.

Teachers and administrators quickly embraced the program, saying it restored their grasp on students鈥� attention in class. Some even said if the school were to end the program, they鈥檇 leave.

As schools around the country implement similar cellphone bans, San Mateo offers a six-year track record of how a cellphone ban can force young people to focus and, in many cases, feel better.

鈥淚f schools can help alleviate some of those expectations and pressures about appearance and performance and embarrassment, and take away some of those elements that a lot of kids really struggle with and are confronted with, that is a benefit to them and to the school community and the school culture,鈥� said Casey Teague, a longtime world history teacher at the school.

A slow start

The decision to implement the Yondr program at San Mateo began with observation and a trial run.

One of its faculty members, Alicia Gorgani, observed a similar cellphone ban at San Lorenzo High School, a smaller school in the area, and brought the idea to San Mateo鈥檚 teachers and administrators.

Adam Gelb, San Mateo鈥檚 assistant principal at the time, said seeing the cellphone ban in action at San Lorenzo 鈥渂lew [his] mind.鈥�

鈥淪tudents were engaged with one another,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey were interacting. They were playing card games. They were playing out on the yard. They were goofing around. They were in circles, talking to each other.鈥�

Gelb helped bring the program to San Mateo, which tested Yondr pouches in a few classrooms in spring 2019.

Teague, who鈥檚 worked at the school for more than 20 years, was one of those first instructors to pilot the program. He said he decided to try out the Yondr pouches in his class after noticing students鈥� smartphones were constantly bombarding them with notifications.

鈥淏y 2018, every kid had a phone. That wasn鈥檛 anything new,鈥� Teague said. 鈥淏ut the distracting nature of the phone was becoming more and more obvious.鈥�

Health education teacher Brittany Dybdahl said leading up to the ban, the school was seeing an increase in cyberbullying and drama stemming from online activities.

Embarrassing moments or conflicts among students had the risk of getting captured on video and being immortalized online.

鈥淚t basically created way more opportunities for students to be emotionally impacted throughout the school day,鈥� Dybdahl said. 鈥淎nd that would, of course, affect their academics and learning.鈥�

After the pilot program, and many discussions with students and their parents, San Mateo implemented the program schoolwide beginning in the 2019-20 academic year.

Some teachers were apprehensive about the cellphone ban, thinking it would create more work for first-period teachers to check that each student had their phones sealed away.

But those checks quickly became part of the daily routine, said physics teacher Patrick Thrasher.

And after seeing the impact the program had on their students, most faculty members got on board, Thrasher said.

鈥淭here was such a pretty clear, drastic difference in the classroom,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was just night and day.鈥�

San Mateo鈥檚 cellphone ban was not even a year old when the COVID-19 pandemic moved all learning online for a year starting in March 2020. But the school decided to continue the cellphone ban when students returned to the classroom in 2021.

鈥淭hey do spend enough time already on screens that, you know, seven hours a day here at school [without screen time] is not going to kill them,鈥� Shiu said.

The student reaction

Enforcement of the ban hasn鈥檛 been entirely without issues.

San Mateo faculty members said some students 鈥� albeit a small percentage 鈥� are determined to bypass the Yondr pouches and keep their phones on them. Some put calculators, hard drives or other phone-shaped objects in their Yondr pouches. Others put old, unused 鈥渂urner phones鈥� in their pouches while keeping their personal phone on them.

But many San Mateo students, like junior Lulu Bertolina, embraced the program. She said the Yondr program was one of the reasons she enrolled at San Mateo.

鈥淗aving our phones [in Yondr pouches] made it easier to make friends, because I can鈥檛 go off on my phone and not make conversation with people,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t almost forced it 鈥� in a really good way.鈥�

For San Mateo senior Siddharth Gogi, the absence of phones made the school feel more welcoming. He said students aren鈥檛 glued to their phones playing video games at lunch or distracted on social media in class.

鈥淐onversations move past surface level when you have that time to talk to one another,鈥� said Gogi, San Mateo鈥檚 three-time class president who graduated this spring.

He acknowledged, though, that some students are concerned about not having quick access to their phones in case of an emergency.

In the early 2000s, many schools repealed their cellphone restrictions after the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

But Shiu said it鈥檚 better if students don鈥檛 have access to their phones during an emergency. The pouches prevent students and family members from sharing misinformation or flooding 911 with calls overwhelming first responders and the cellphone network.

鈥淚n any emergency, we want students to be focused on the adult giving the information,鈥� Shiu said.

The experts

To hear the experts tell it, there鈥檚 an overriding good reason for schools to ban cellphones. Cellphone use and social media sites can both have a serious impact on young peoples鈥� well-being.

Extensive cellphone use during the day has a 鈥渄irect correlation with a decline in mental health,鈥� said Annette Anderson, the deputy director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Safe and Healthy Schools.

鈥淲e also know that cellphone use late into the evening has a disruptive factor in our young people getting enough sleep and then being attentive enough in the morning,鈥� Anderson said.

Young people are grappling with the reality that the phone in their hand could be doing them harm. A Pew Research Survey released in April found almost half of U.S. teens age 13 to 17 agreed social media sites have a mostly negative impact on kids their age.

San Mateo wellness counselor Helen Citrin said a cellphone ban can provide students a much-needed break from their phones.

For students who are highly anxious or struggle managing their emotions, Citrin said, not having access to a cellphone can help as it prevents them from constantly texting their parents.

鈥淭hat pouch offers a boundary,鈥� she said.

One recent study echoed this sentiment. Independent research on school cellphone bans is limited, but a 2024 study conducted by Yondr found that students saw a 15% increase in the likelihood they received a passing grade after their school implemented Yondr pouches. The report also found a 44% decrease in behavioral referrals after implementation.

Data from San Mateo paints a mixed picture of the school鈥檚 performance since implementation of the cellphone ban. Math and English test scores declined from 2019 through 2024, but both the graduation rate and preparedness for college and careers have inched upward. Meanwhile, the suspension rate increased.

Gelb offered an explanation for the rise: 鈥淓verybody was forced to communicate in person, so you had more people talking, and there鈥檚 more chance for someone to say the wrong thing or be in the wrong place.鈥�

But, he added, the premeditated incidents and cyberbullying disappeared from the school day.

A growing trend

Although San Mateo might have been early to the cellphone ban movement, it鈥檚 among growing company now.

State and local governments and school districts across the country are now considering 鈥� or have already passed 鈥� policies on cellphone use in school. Yondr boasts that millions of students from all 50 states are now using its pouches.

While there is no statewide ban in Maryland, more than a third of its public schools prohibit cellphone use, . Several school districts, including Howard and Baltimore counties, have passed a total ban.

About 30% of U.S. schools now have a ban on cellphone use throughout the school day, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

That percentage is likely to rise. In the nation鈥檚 largest state, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation last year requiring all public and charter schools in California to create a policy to reduce or ban cellphone use during school hours by July 1, 2026, but left each school or school district to decide the specifics of their policy.

And recently, New York joined the more than two dozen other states instituting a complete ban on cellphones during school hours.

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the decision comes as part of the state鈥檚 efforts to protect youth mental health.

鈥淥ur young people succeed when they鈥檙e learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling,鈥� Hochul said in a statement in May.

A model to follow?

San Mateo faculty and staff said the school鈥檚 careful implementation of the Yondr program and the conversations it had with families and educators led to its success.

But several San Mateo faculty members said Yondr alone can鈥檛 solve youth mental health issues stemming from social media and personal devices.

The second students leave school grounds, they once again have access to their phones and can browse as much as they want. Citrin, the school鈥檚 wellness counselor, said many of the students she deals with stay up late into the night doomscrolling, or texting or video chatting with friends.

That being the case, Gelb said schools should also teach students how to develop a healthy relationship with their phone and social media.

The pouches also carry a financial impact on schools.

Each student at San Mateo receives a free Yondr pouch at the beginning of the school year, but each replacement costs $15. In total, Shiu estimated the school spends about $20,000 a year on Yondr pouches.

However, San Mateo teachers and administrators said the program鈥檚 benefits outweigh its costs.

鈥淔rom a school perspective, it keeps kids off of their phone during class time,鈥� Citrin said. 鈥淏ecause the main focus here is education, that鈥檚 what the purpose is, and that鈥檚 what the use is benefiting.鈥�

Capital News Service is a student-staffed reporting service operated by the University of Maryland鈥檚 Phillip Merrill College of Journalism. Stories are available at the  and may be reprinted as long as credit is given to Capital News Service and, most importantly, to the students who produced the work.

When I asked families on my 4,000-plus-member how they felt about the new restriction, I received answers ranging from enthusiasm to concern. 

鈥淧hones and smartwatches in classrooms and school hallways are more than just a distraction 鈥� they鈥檙e a barrier to learning, focus and social development,鈥� according to Manhattan鈥檚 Arwynn H.J. 

鈥淏ring on the ban,鈥� cheered Bronx parent and teacher Jackie Marashlian. 鈥淢y high school students were ready to air-scroll me toward the ceiling with their fingers, so bored with whatever it was I was trying to impart to them. One day we had a WiFi glitch and I saw my students鈥� beautiful eyes for the very first time. Bring kids back to face-to-face interaction and socializing during lunch breaks.鈥� 

鈥淎s a middle school teacher in the Bronx and parent of an eighth grader, I think the cellphone ban is fantastic,鈥� agreed Debra. 鈥淲hile my son is ‘devastated’ he can’t have his phone, it scares me that he’s said he doesn’t know what to do at lunch/recess without a phone. Kids have become so reliant on technology, even when they are with their peers, that often they are not really WITH their peers; they are all just staring at their phones. I hope the cellphone ban leads more students to be both physically and mentally present.鈥�

For mom Elaine Daly, the phone ban affects her more than her special-needs daughter. 鈥淢y child is 11 and knows she is not to use the phone in school. My parental controls blocks, locks and limits access. But I need her phone to be on so I can also track her, since the NYCSchools bus app always says: Driver offline.鈥�

Jen C., who reported the ban has been going well with her child in elementary school, sees a bigger issue for her high school-age son. 鈥淗e has homework online and likes to get started during his free periods. However, he鈥檚 not allowed to use his laptop, and there are not enough school issued laptops. I feel that teachers should give off-line work, or the school needs to give access to laptops.鈥�

Parents of older students were the ones most likely to be against the blanket edict.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have the same policy for kids 6 years old and for 17 years old,鈥� mom Pilar Ruiz Cobo raged. 鈥淭his policy is crazy for seniors. Yesterday, my daughter had her first college adviser class, and only five kids could work because the rest didn鈥檛 remember their passwords to Naviance and the Common App. The verification code was sent only to their phones. Children who don鈥檛 study, don鈥檛 study with and without phones, now the children who actually work have to work double at home.鈥�

A Queens mom pinpointed another problem. 鈥淢any high school students leave the premises for lunch, and my son’s school is one of those. He said they鈥檙e not allowed to take their phones. Children need to use phones outside of school for various reasons; to use phone pay, to contact their parents for lunch money or any updates, etc鈥︹��

The policy varies from school to school. At some, students are allowed to request their phones back when temporarily leaving the premises. However, the larger the school, the less likely it is to have enough staff to handle such exchanges.

鈥淎n interesting aspect of this policy is that although it was presented as a smartphone ban, it’s actually much more expansive, including tablets and laptops,鈥� pointed out dad Adam C. 鈥淭his presents a challenge for high school students who rely on laptops for receiving, completing and submitting assignments through Google Classroom.鈥�

鈥淭hey say parents have to provide their own laptop pouch (there are none similar to Yonder), and they can鈥檛 store laptops in backpacks,鈥� confirmed Queens mom Y.N. 鈥淢y son has afterschool sports activities and likes to do his homework on his laptop in between. I think he鈥檒l have to take it with him and hope they don鈥檛 confiscate.鈥�

鈥淲hile I’m not opposed to keeping students off platforms like Snapchat during school hours,鈥� Adam continued, 鈥淭hey should be able to connect a laptop to a school-managed Wi-Fi network for school-related purposes, and the current policy doesn鈥檛 provide the schools with much leeway around this.鈥�

But Y.N. doesn鈥檛 believe that鈥檚 accurate. 鈥淚 already voiced my concern to the Student Leadership Team (SLT). At the , they said these rules are fluid. Because the regulations came after the SLTs were done for the year, the chancellor said they should be able to change them. She said a plan had to be made before Day One, but it doesn鈥檛 mean that adjustments can鈥檛 be made at the school level. 鈥楾inkering鈥� was the word they kept using.鈥�

If that鈥檚 the case, perhaps NYC can pull back from its traditional one-size-fits-all approach and allow individual schools to 鈥渢inker鈥� and set limitations based on the needs and feedback of their community, adjusting policy based on grade level, academic requirements and a multitude of other factors.

Their reactions were followed by a sigh of relief at the next question: How has life changed since your schools implemented phone bans?

A huge change, they both said, in their classrooms and throughout their schools. Where once TikTok videos were being filmed in school hallways and Instagram Reels watched during instruction, teachers now feel like they 鈥渁ctually have the whole attention of the class,鈥� Corletta said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like night and day. It鈥檚 so different,鈥� said Corletta, comparing his experience as an English language arts teacher at MS 137 in South Ozone Park Queens, which began using magnetically locked phone pouches about five years ago, to his previous experience at a Bronx school with no restrictions. 鈥淚 don’t touch [the phones]. I don’t hold them. I don’t see them, I don’t do anything like that and it鈥檚 really really nice.鈥�

Once silent cafeterias now have kids yelling, gossiping and playing cards 鈥� a refreshing sight for many educators like Corletta and Leston, who teach in middle and high schools respectively. Lunchtime, for many school leaders, used to feel like phone time. 

But now, 鈥渟tudents are playing Uno again in the cafeteria,” said New York City Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Danika Rux in an interview with 社区黑料. 

New York City schools have had of phone restriction policies, with an outright ban in the early 2000s that was reversed about . Individual schools, like the ones where Corletta and Leston teach, have had the their own restrictions. 

That will change again in the new academic year as all schools in New York state will implement a bell-to-bell ban 鈥� one of the strictest among dozens of other states that 鈥� barring students from access to personal devices that can connect to the internet for the entire school day. Schools will be required to provide storage for the devices. 

But with such new policies, many being implemented for the first time this school year or in effect for less than two years, no one knows what the perfect model looks like. 

Researchers are moving cautiously as they grapple with uncertainty about the effectiveness of in-school phone bans on mental health. Data yields 鈥� and there鈥檚 growing a sentiment that more has to be done outside of schools to get kids off their phones and back into the world. 

A recent Pew Research survey found that nearly restrictive phone use in schools, up six percentage points since last year 鈥� but many are also unsure how far the bans should go. About 44% of respondents supported all day bans, with others split on whether students should have access to their phones between classes or at lunch. 

鈥淲e do have some emerging evidence from the research that shows that phone bans can have pretty substantial positive effects,鈥� said Katie Rybakova, an associate professor and chair at the Lunder School of Education at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine. 

But studies are limited and 鈥渞eally small from the researcher lens.鈥� Inconsistencies in how bans are implemented from state to state, district to district, school to school and classroom to classroom make it hard to measure, she said. 

鈥淵ou can’t compare a rural district in Alabama to a suburban district in New York,鈥� Rybakova said. 鈥淚t’s going to look very different, depending on the place and space, and the students that you’re working with, the teachers, how it’s monitored and what kind of accountability measures are in place.鈥� 

With the ban in New York about to take effect, some schools have had to scrap policies that have worked for them to now adhere to new legislation, while others are implementing digital bans for the first time.

鈥淚mplementation is daunting,鈥� Leston said. 鈥淲hen I heard of the [state] ban, I was like, 鈥極h, that’s great!鈥� My school already had one, but then I thought about it for a minute, and I said, 鈥極h, this is going to be a big deal for a lot of schools, especially large comprehensive high schools.鈥� 鈥� It’s going to be a very hard norm to create cellphone free schools.鈥�

Growing support across the country

Annette Campbell Anderson, an associate professor at John Hopkins School of Education, said increasing legislation calling for cellphone bans in schools nationwide has come from a 鈥減erfect storm鈥� of push and pull between district leaders, teachers and parents.

The COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning pushed students into an unprecedented dependency on technology use for school, socialization and entertainment. 

鈥淭here was this overwhelming desire for kids to get their education online, and so because schools were closed, 鈥� everyone thought, 鈥榃ell, we’ve got these phones. We’ve got this access to technology. Why don’t we use that?鈥� 鈥� Anderson said.

At the same time, parents also had unparalleled access to the classroom during the pandemic where they got to see what and how their children were being educated. When students returned to their physical campuses, parents wanted to 鈥渒eep a bird’s eye view on what was happening in school,鈥� and tried to remain in close communication with their children, Anderson said, also acknowledging growing fears of school shootings and school safety.

The result? 鈥淲e pushed the phones into the hands of our young people,鈥� Anderson said.

In schools, students remained mentally checked out and educators grew frustrated.

鈥淏efore we instituted a ban, kids were preoccupied with their cellphones. They were on their social media. 鈥� They were creating TikToks in the hallway,鈥� Leston said. 鈥淚t contributed to conflict in the building. Kids couldn鈥檛 communicate with each other. They were distracted in the classroom.鈥�

Mental health issues , hitting a breaking point for everyone.

鈥淎ll these things were coalescing into this perfect storm of a moment,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淲hat you have [now] is a bunch of people who have the instinct that we’ve gone too far.鈥�

Extent of cell bans triggers split response

Around 31 states across the country have implemented or recommended some type of school-based technology ban, according to tracking from . 

There鈥檚 some argument that New York鈥檚 policy may be too restrictive and left some superintendents across the state feeling like their hands were tied when their schools had bans that were working.

鈥淲e’ve seen districts which had adopted very thoughtful policies, and in some cases, with student engagement, they were accepted,鈥� said Robert Lowry, deputy director for advocacy, research and communications for the New York State Council of School Superintendents. 鈥淭hey seemed to be working well, so [the new legislation] was a point of contention.鈥� 

One New York district, for example, allowed students access to personal devices in certain areas of their schools buildings and with permission, which was popular with students, parents and educators, Lowry said. 

But with the state ban going into effect, that policy will quickly have to be revised with limited time and community input. 

鈥淚f you want to try and engage parents, teachers and others in developing a policy 鈥� hopefully building a consensus 鈥� summer is not the best time,鈥� Lowry said.

New York State allocated in its latest budget toward implementation, which is expected to help purchase storage options. New York City has also added an to its budget to help support the shift for the upcoming school year.

鈥淲e’ve given them templates of what a policy could look like, so that they can customize for their school community. We’ve given them sample communication to families,鈥� Rux said.

More work to be done, in and out of school buildings

For researchers, cellphone bans raise concerns if parents and educators are going to see the outcomes they鈥檙e hoping for 鈥� with many researchers saying there needs to be more proactive measures outside of school to see an improvement in children’s mental health.   

鈥淚 feel like the bans don’t go far enough, and if we just check the box to say we’ve banned it in school, we’ve basically pushed this responsibility on to teachers and administrators to be responsible for this and then we’ve also said that we don’t care what happens after school,鈥� John Hopkins鈥� Anderson said.

Researchers suggested reform may begin with better educating parents on the effects of screen-time and a push toward better modeling of behavior, but it may also be a call for more legislative action on social media use as a whole.

鈥淲hat we really need is a digital code of conduct for our young people to understand what they should be doing,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淲e’ve got warnings on nicotine, we’ve got warnings on alcohol, but the device that’s actually in a kid’s hand more times than not 鈥� we don’t have any guardrails around any of that.鈥�

A quarter of the 13-18 year olds in the study used devices for two hours each school day, which lasts around seven hours. The averages outnumber minutes allotted for lunch and period breaks combined, showing youth are distracted by phones throughout huge chunks of class time. 

, is the first to accurately paint a picture of adolescent phone behavior by using a third party app to monitor usage over four months in 2023. Previous studies have relied on parent surveys or self-reported estimates.听

鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty alarming 鈥� It’s too much, not only because of the missed learning opportunity in the classroom,鈥� said researcher Lauren Hale, sleep expert and professor at Stony Brook鈥檚 Renaissance School of Medicine. 

鈥淭hey’re missing out on real life social interaction with peers, which is just as valuable for growth during a critical period of one’s life,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 

Hale and the other researchers鈥� early findings come from 117 teens for which they had school data, just one slice of a pool from over 300 participants, which will be analyzed and used to consider how phone usage impacts sleep, obesity, depression and other outcomes. 

Teens most often used messaging, Instagram and video streaming platforms. While most spent about 26 minutes on Instagram, in one extreme case, a student was on the app for 269 minutes 鈥� nearly 5 hours 鈥� during the school day.

Data reveal particular groups of students are using their phones more than their peers: Girls and older kids, aged 16 to 18, spent a half hour above the average 1.5 hours; and Latino and multiracial students spent on average 15 minutes above average. 

Additionally, though researchers cannot hypothesize as to why based on the descriptive data, kids who have one or more parents with a college degree used smartphones less during the school day. 

The findings are particularly concerning given young people missed key social years with peers during the pandemic, the impact of which is felt in ways big and small, like being hesitant to work with peers in groups.

Teachers in contact with Hale since research went public in early February say of the 1.5 hour average, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 too low an estimate. They think we underestimated.鈥�

is among several districts with plans to institute a cellphone ban, though such bans are inconsistently implemented and new research from the UK suggests bans alone .

鈥淭hese results are consistent, supportive evidence of anecdotal stories from across the country about kids missing out on learning and social opportunities. [They] can help justify efforts to provide a coherent smartphone policy for schools,鈥� said Hale, adding that such policy should not be left up to individual teachers to enforce.

COLUMBIA 鈥� South Carolina school districts must ban students from using their cellphones during the entire school day, but exactly how they go about it is up to district officials, according to the state Board of Education passed Tuesday.

At the very least, districts must require students to keep their phones and connected devices, such as smartwatches, turned off and in their backpacks or lockers from the time the first bell rings in the morning until the dismissal bell in the afternoon, according to the state policy.

But the state board said districts can decide whether to enact sterner rules, as well as the consequences for violating them.

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Districts that do not put a policy in place that is at least as strict as the one the state board passed Tuesday could lose their state funding.

鈥淲e鈥檙e saying, 鈥楾his is what state law says, and so you鈥檝e got to implement it,鈥� but we are leaving a lot of discretion, a lot of latitude, to districts on how exactly they do it,鈥� board member Christian Hanley said.

The decision follows a clause the Legislature included in the state spending plan requiring the state board to create a policy prohibiting cellphones for K-12 students in the state鈥檚 public schools. The specifics, legislators left up to the board, which in turn left many of the details to local school boards.

Although state board members supported the idea of banning cellphones in schools, they said they worried about unintended consequences of the new policy, such as putting another task on overworked teachers, increasing the number of out-of-school suspensions or cutting students off from their parents during emergencies.

鈥淚mplementation of such a policy over a school day scares me,鈥� said board chair David O鈥橲hields. 鈥淲hy? Because once we create this policy, it is the requirement of every district to follow suit, and there is the law of unintended consequences, and it frightens me.鈥�

School boards will to put in place a policy at least as strict as the one the state board enacted, according to a memo the department sent to superintendents in June. District must submit those policies to the department to ensure compliance.

The state board, which passed the policy 15-1, added a stipulation that districts must report back about how implementation went in case the board finds a need to adjust its policy ahead of next school year.

鈥淎ll of these things look good, but just because it looks good doesn鈥檛 mean it is good.鈥� O鈥橲hields said.

The policy

In the state policy, the board did decide lunch and other breaks should be considered part of the school day, meaning students must leave their cell phones stowed away during those times.

Districts may choose to take it further telling students not to bring their devices to school at all. Or they can buy lockable pouches to store them. Some may also decide to include bus rides, field trips or athletic events as times when students can not access their phones, according to the policy.

The policy also leaves room for exceptions.

If students have an assignment they cannot complete on school-provided devices, districts can allow students to keep their phones with them to use as part of their classwork.

Students with disabilities who need access to phones or tablets to learn would still be allowed to use the devices. And students with certain outside jobs, such as volunteer firefighters, can seek a written exception from their superintendent to use their phone during the day, according to the policy.

Enforcement also will largely be up to school districts. The policy requires 鈥渄isciplinary enforcement procedures,鈥� with increasing consequences for repeat offenders, but it doesn鈥檛 specify what that means.

State board members did discourage using out-of-school suspension as punishment for violating the policy. Taking a student out of school because they are breaking a rule meant to keep them focused on their classwork feels counterintuitive, said state Superintendent Ellen Weaver.

鈥淭he whole idea behind this policy is that we want students in classrooms getting instruction,鈥� Weaver told reporters. 鈥淭aking students out of that instructional space really doesn鈥檛 make a whole lot of sense as far as I鈥檓 concerned.鈥�

Still, different situations may warrant different punishments, so board members wanted to leave that decision up to the districts, said board member David Mathis.

Timing

Some board members felt they did not have enough time to create the policy.

Board member Beverly Frierson was the sole 鈥渘o鈥� vote, not because she disagreed with it but because she thought the board was too rushed to give the policy the consideration it needed, she said.

O鈥橲hields, the board chair, worried teachers may have to spend too much time policing cellphones. Still, he agreed some kind of action was necessary.

鈥淚 know we need control, and there is an addiction, no doubt,鈥� O鈥橲hields said.

The policy has support from legislators, teachers鈥� advocates and Gov. Henry McMaster. Since 2020, McMaster has included this clause in his state budget recommendations. This was the first time legislators agreed to put it in the final plan.

鈥淭he research is clear,鈥� McMaster wrote in a letter to the board Tuesday. 鈥淩emoving access to personal electronic devices during the school day improves student academic performance and removes distractions that exacerbate anxiety among our adolescents.鈥�

鈥淥ur responsibility is to create an environment where teachers can teach, and students can learn,鈥� the letter continued.

In a statewide survey the education department conducted, 55% of teachers and administrators who responded said they supported a total ban on cellphones during the school day. Another 37% said they wanted students to have limited access during class time, with the chance to check their phones between classes or at lunch.

Along with being distracting while students are trying to learn, phones can erode their social skills and encourage bullying, Weaver said.

鈥淚 think the dividend that we will see this pay for schools and for our students鈥� future will be worth it in the end,鈥� Weaver said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on and .

COLUMBIA 鈥� A model policy requiring South Carolina鈥檚 K-12 students to stash their cellphones during the entire school day received initial approval Tuesday from the State Board of Education, which wanted to get more feedback before finalizing minimum guidelines for school districts.

The unanimous vote comes six weeks after the state budget mandated school districts to adopt a policy banning cellphones during the school day or risk state funding. But the State Board of Education must first adopt a model policy for them to follow.

The goal is for all districts to have a policy in place before January, according to a memo the state agency sent school administrators over the summer.

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The board was considering a , which would require phones, smart watches and other devices to be turned off and stashed through the entire school day, not just during class time. It would allow exceptions for students with particular medical or educational needs, for specific educational purposes and for high schoolers who volunteer as local firefighters or other emergency responders.

It allows for school districts to set more restrictive rules, but not less.

It also gives school districts flexibility on setting rules outside the school day, such as whether to allow devices on bus rides. Districts could also decide where students would be required to keep their phones from the opening to closing bells 鈥� whether in a locker, a backpack or somewhere else.

Board Chairman David O鈥橲hields said he wanted to take some additional time on such an important policy to gather feedback, including from parents.

鈥淚 do think without equivocation there needs to be a serious reigning in of cellphone use and proliferation because it鈥檚 negative consequences, especially for adolescents, can be quite harmful,鈥� said O鈥橲hields, superintendent of Laurens County School District 56 (Clinton).

While board members wanted more time, they were enthusiastic about the underlying idea.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about the discipline in the schools,鈥� said Christian Hanley Jr. of Berkeley County. 鈥淭he discipline is important, but it鈥檚 ruining our kids.鈥�

Hanley noted the board put a lot of work into that bars books in schools that describe 鈥渟exual conduct.鈥�

鈥淵ou can get a whole lot more porn on these phones than you鈥檙e going to get in those library books,鈥� he said.

Matthew Ferguson, deputy superintendent for the Department of Education, said the agency has already received a lot of feedback in creating the model rules.

More than 9,000 teachers responded to a survey on banning phones. Teachers reported that phones were taking up hours of their teaching time, and they asked for support from school administrators so they don鈥檛 have to be the phone police, he said.

鈥淲hen we first sent the survey out 鈥� our survey platform thought we had been hacked and spoofed because the responses were coming in so quickly,鈥� Ferguson told the board.

State Superintendent Ellen Weaver said her agency can also help school officials educate parents on the policies.

鈥淭he districts are very hungry for us as the department to help create communication tools and resources,鈥� she said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on and .