Cell phones have become such a normal part of daily life that most of us barely notice their ubiquity. That is, unless you’re a teacher battling cell phone use in school.
Classrooms and cell phones are a bad combo, but with more than half of U.S. kids getting their own phone by age 12, it’s definitely an issue. Many schools (and even entire states) are instituting phone bans, including one Kansas middle school whose three-year experiment had its principal singing the ban’s praises.
From better grades and attendance to a simple return ‘hello’
McPherson Middle School in Kansas implemented a policy requiring students to keep their cell phones in their lockers for the entire school day.
Inge Esping, McPherson’s principal (and the 2025 Kansas Middle Level Principal of the Year), told EdWeek that the results after three years were “pretty wild.” Chronic absenteeism dropped from 39% to 11%, and school suspensions fell by 70%. But interactions with students really stood out for Esping.
“Now, when I say hello to students,” she said, “they’re more likely than before to say ‘hello’ in return.”
Tony Cattani, principal of Lenape High School in Medford, N.J., shared how the school’s policy of putting phones in pouches during class has also changed how students work and interact.
“They can focus on their work, our grades are up, our conversations and classes are better, and we’re getting to a better routine,” Cattani told EdWeek.
Psychologist Angela Duckworth told the University of Michigan that researchers are “seeing meaningful patterns emerge” in the data around cell phone policies: “For example, teachers are seeing students talk in hallways face-to-face and engage in the kind of social learning that can’t happen through a screen.”
Dealing with pushback from parents
It may come as no surprise that limiting or eliminating student cell phone use during the school day would have positive impacts. What may be surprising is how many parents push back against the idea.
For Esping, parents were split 50/50. “We had about half of our parents who were incredibly excited for this change, and about half of our parents that were very nervous,” she said.
Cattani told EdWeek it was more like 80/20 at his school, with the majority concerned about not being able to contact their child throughout the day. Not having easy access to their phones in emergencies, such as active shooter situations, made parents particularly nervous.
“When I talked about our crisis plan and explained that a cellphone isn’t going to be the thing that prevents or saves students, it was helpful,” he said.
Teachers, on the other hand, are all for it. Last year, Cattani brought his 225 staff members together in small groups to answer the question, “What is one thing we could do next year to get better?” Unanimously, they said they wanted a clear and strict cell phone policy.
Evidence-based policy decisions
Phones in Focus is a nonpartisan research initiative that “aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for school phone policies that optimally support academic learning, healthy social relationships, and emotional well-being.” It’s the first national study of school cell phone policies and the largest survey of teachers on the subject, with over 68,000 responses representing around 17% of American public schools.
The research team has found that the share of schools in their sample with bell-to-bell phone bans rose from 60% in the 2024–25 school year to 74% in 2025-26. About half of high schools surveyed have such a ban, while 90% of elementary and middle schools do.
The study collected commentary from teachers, who describe the impact of cell phone bans on not only academics but also students’ social well-being.
“As an educator, it is nice to see students interacting [and] socializing with each other face to face. It makes the lunchroom louder,” one teacher wrote. Another noted, “The [bell-to-bell ban] is much better. We have fewer discipline problems related to phones, and students are more engaged in class…they are learning to socialize again.”
