Largest Study Finds Mixed Results From School Cellphone Bans

The largest study of school cellphone bans to date has found that the policies reduce student phone use during the school day but produce limited improvements in academic achievement or student behavior. Researchers from several universities compiled data from Yondr, a California company that provides lockable pouches used by schools to secure student phones.

The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, examined information from about 4,600 schools and is the first nationally representative analysis of such bans. It is also the first to rely on actual tracking of locked phones rather than self-reported no-show policies that are often unevenly enforced.

Teacher surveys in schools with bell-to-bell bans showed the share of students using phones in class for personal reasons fell from 61 percent to 13 percent. GPS data indicated a large and persistent decline in device pings on campuses with bans, reaching roughly a 30 percent drop in total pings during school hours by the third year after adoption.

Researchers noted that the ping data include use by adults and pings from phones that are on but not actively used. They described the observed reduction as a conservative lower bound on the effect of the cellphone policies.

Schools that implemented the bans saw suspension rates rise about 16 percent in the first year, both in-school and out-of-school. This increase faded in later years. Student self-reported well-being declined in the first year of adoption before rebounding and turning positive by the second year.

The study tracked three cohorts of schools that began using the pouches in 2022, 2023 and 2024. By the third year after adoption, suspension rates had returned to baseline levels and student well-being exceeded pre-ban levels.

Average effects on standardized test scores remained consistently close to zero across the first three years after adoption, with similar results across subjects. Effects on attendance were also close to zero. The study found no measurable improvements in perceived online bullying or self-reported classroom attention.

A 2024 Pew Research study found that about one in three teachers consider student cellphone distraction a major problem, with the figure rising to 72 percent among high school teachers. As of spring 2026, at least 37 states and the District of Columbia require school districts to ban or restrict student phone use.

Public support for such bans has increased, with 74 percent of U.S. adults favoring cellphone bans during class for middle and high school students. The study authors cautioned that the findings represent an early look at the effects of cellphone bans.

The policies succeed in reducing in-school phone use even if other measured outcomes do not shift immediately.