Neuss investigated the sudden increase and learned that students "had a lot more time that they can dedicate to the readings. ... They're not as distracted with the phone."
Like countless schools across the country, Ballard High began restricting cellphone use during the school day at the start of this school year. With winter break approaching, Neuss is happy that the library has become a "social hub" where kids hang out and talk to each other, now that they aren't distracted by their phones. Plus, Neuss has noticed "peer conflicts" that would start online over the weekend and spill over into the school day have become less common.
At least 32 states and the District of Columbia now require schools to ban or restrict students' use of cellphones, according to an Education Week tally. Limiting cellphone use during instructional time, and in some cases, throughout the whole school day, has improved student engagement in class and resulted in fewer disciplinary issues, educators report and some preliminary studies confirm. No cellphones in class helps teachers, too — early research has indicated that cellphone bans can reduce rates of teacher burnout.
At Argyle Middle School, a tech magnet school in Layhill, Md., improved student engagement hasn't been the only positive effect. Principal James Allrich said he's seen some long-forgotten student interests reemerge this year.
"There are a lot more students playing chess during lunch. I've also seen them carry around Rubik's cubes," Allrich said. "I don't know if there's a correlation with the [cellphone] ban, but for years, I just hadn't seen a lot of kids doing these things."
IT'S IMPORTANT TO PHYSICALLY SEPARATE STUDENTS FROM THEIR PHONES, PRINCIPALS SAY
A school's cellphone policy can't be static. Principals check in regularly to see what's working and what isn't.
At Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor, Maine, principal Matt Haney started the school year with one major tweak to the school's cellphone policy: Students coming into a class must deposit their phones into a slotted bin and can only pick them up after class. Earlier, students had to keep their phones "out of sight" during class but could keep them nearby. This meant that students could still easily be distracted by notifications or texts when their phones buzzed.
"Just physically having a separation from the tangible device has made a big difference this year," said Haney.
Early research confirms this observation: A survey of 20,000 teachers from across the country found that policies that require students to store their phones in pouches or lockers — rather than in their pockets or backpacks — are linked to more focused classrooms.
Last year, students at Mount Desert Island High could also carry their phones out of class and text each other in the hallways or the bathroom. Now, without their phones available to tempt them to step out of the classroom, Haney said students are more tuned into their classes.
At Ballard High, Neuss said he's seen more teachers ask for phone cases and pouches for their classrooms. Ballard's policy lets students keep their phones with them, but they must be turned off and put away during class. Teachers write up students who defy the policy in class, and if they are seen with their phones a second time, an assistant principal goes into the classroom to confiscate it.
With more teachers collecting phones in pouches or bins, the pressure has eased on assistant principals, Neuss said.
"Cellphones make up 38 percent of our disciplinary issues right now," he said. "My hope is that as the year progresses, more teachers keep these cases on hand, and they can just put the cellphone away and get on [with the class]."
I thought that with a complete ban, students would be using their phones more. We had pushed back on the ban, and we were proven wrong this year. We acknowledged as much to our teachers.
Principal James Allrich, Argyle Middle School, Md.
Allrich initially resisted the idea.
"We are a tech magnet. We teach students how to build apps," he said. "[The ban] felt contradictory and opposite to our work around teaching kids how to be responsible users of technology."
But the principal relented when teachers pushed back on the partial ban, saying it was too hard to enforce. Immediately, he said, there was a noticeable difference when the school switched to the bell-to-bell policy. Administrators got fewer calls to pick up cellphones from classrooms.
"I thought that with a complete ban, students would be using their phones more. We had pushed back on the ban, and we were proven wrong this year. We acknowledged as much to our teachers," Allrich said.
CELLPHONE RESTRICTIONS CAN GRADUALLY CHANGE STUDENT BEHAVIOR
Schools may have different approaches to limiting cellphone use, but the goal, said principals, is to help students develop a productive relationship with technology.
Andre Hauser, the principal of Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, Conn., said it is important to clearly differentiate instructional from non-instructional time. (Amity High allows students to use their phones outside of instructional time.)
Hauser said feedback from teachers helped shape the cellphone policy and close any loopholes. For instance, when students are on a field trip, the ride to a museum wouldn't be considered instructional time, but once students arrive, they have to put their phones away.
It was also crucial to get student buy-in at the beginning of the school year. During the first week, Hauser spoke with students about why removing distractions would improve their focus on learning. He also checks in regularly with students about limiting their cellphone use in school.
"Students tell me there's no incentive to rush though their work anymore because they can't scroll or check their socials in class," Hauser said.
Even teens who resented the rules at first have begrudgingly told Hauser that they've benefited from the restrictions.
Outside the classroom, too, Hauser said there are subtle differences in how students interact with each other, even with a phone in their hand. During lunch, for instance, students will show each other videos or share music, as a way of interacting with their friends, rather than being completely isolated on their individual phone screens.
Haney, too, has found that limiting the use of phones in class can have positive impacts outside it. Students aren't glued to their phones the minute they can access them.
"You see kids looking at each other in the eyes and talking. They might show each other a video," he said. "But it's not like a bunch of teenagers staring at their phone and not interacting."
Principals like Neuss and Allrich are also working toward introducing more activities during lunch to keep students engaged. Neuss said Friday afternoon Bingo has been a hit, and Allrich is looking forward to playing more chess and board games with his students.
Ultimately, principals say they want their policies to be more than just deterrents — they want to see students develop healthier habits around cellphone use.
"As a school, the question becomes, how do we better support students in making sure that they keep the phones away," said Neuss, "and that they use them appropriately when they're allowed to?"
© 2025 Education Week (Bethesda, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
