Opinion | The case for thoughtful cellphone restrictions in schools

In her recent State of the State address, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for new restrictions on student cellphone use in schools. In response, legislators reintroduced House Bill 4141 that seeks to impose such restrictions. The bill outlines different expectations for elementary, middle and high school students, but otherwise appears to provide local districts with considerable discretion to craft policies that best meet their needs.  

State lawmakers are on the right track. 

Cellphone access among adolescents is ubiquitous. Youth ages 13-17 spend on average 4-5 hours a day in digital spaces, with grave consequences for their academic engagement, mental health and personal safety.  Research suggests that increased smartphone and social media use are associated with increased depression and anxiety.  More than 4 of 5 principals view cellphones as having negative effects on students’ academic performance and social development. Nearly half (46%) of youth report having experienced cyberbullying, and the sharing of videos through social media has been cited as a motivating factor for violence including fights at school. 

In response to such concerns, many public school districts have implemented policies to regulate youth’s use of digital spaces within schools. Indeed, over 75% of K-12 schools in the US regulated cellphone use as of 2022.  Prior research on these policies yields mixed results. However, it is encouraging that in some circumstances school cellphone restrictions have improved academic performance and mental health, and reduced bullying. 

Implementation Matters

For schools adopting cellphone policies, there is no one size fits all approach, and the Legislature is right to leave the specifics of cellphone restrictions up to individual districts. It is important to acknowledge legitimate concerns from parents who view cellphones as essential communication tools and educators who see legitimate educational uses for mobile devices. However, these valid concerns can be addressed through thoughtful policy design rather than abandoning restrictions altogether.

As researchers who have spent our careers studying educational policies and school-based interventions, we know one thing definitely matters — the quality of implementation. The best policy in the world will not be effective if implemented poorly. Schools are complicated, dynamic environments that require multiple actors working in concert to bring about change. Teachers are most often responsible for implementing cellphone restrictions. Teachers report that enforcing cellphone policies is extremely challenging, particularly when phones are permitted in some contexts (e.g. lunch) but not others (e.g. classrooms). 

As parents of adolescents in Michigan’s public schools, we have witnessed such implementation challenges firsthand. In our experience, there is tremendous variation in how teachers interpret and enforce cellphone rules. In some classes, teachers require students to deposit their phones in “caddies” each day; in others, teachers merely ask students to refrain from using their phones. Moreover, children are free to use their phones in school but outside of class. 

We encourage local educators to prioritize approaches that make enforcement more straightforward, such as lockable pouches that securely store devices during school hours. Systems that rely heavily on teacher monitoring or voluntary student compliance will likely be more challenging to implement.  

Evaluation Matters Too

As educators throughout the state design and implement rules regarding cellphone use in school, we urge them to think carefully about how they will know if their policies are working as intended. It is easy for anecdotes and perceptions to shape the opinion people have regarding an intervention’s effectiveness. Unfortunately, such conclusions are often misleading. Moreover, to ensure that these policies benefit all students in Michigan, we need to know how different types of policies operate across a wide range of student populations and school environments. 

Educators and policymakers need actual data to guide their decision-making so Michigan legislators should require districts to assess the successes and shortcomings of the policies they implement. It will be important to document how well students comply with new rules and whether school staff report fewer phone-related disruptions. Even more importantly, evaluation should focus on whether the new rules influence student outcomes such as attendance, grades, disciplinary incidents, test scores, and mental health.  

The pervasiveness of smartphones in adolescent life presents both opportunities and challenges. Thoughtfully designed and consistently enforced cellphone restrictions can help mitigate digital distractions in schools while maintaining the educational benefits technology offers. The key lies not simply in restricting devices, but in creating intentional policies that reflect our educational priorities and commitment to student wellbeing.