School Leadership 2.0
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Cell Phone Bans: All Day or Just in Class?
Edutopia
The Research is In
2/16/26
Support Grows for Full-Day Cell Phone Bans |
| New data reveals that the general public is finally catching up to what teachers have known all along: Phones in school are trouble. |
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| Even if everyone quietly agrees that cell phones disrupt the natural rhythms of our communities, removing them from public spaces is a stubborn collective action problem. Until a clear majority of people coordinate to change the rules—or enough brave souls publicly dissent—the devices will remain a ubiquitous feature of modern life. Don’t blame educators, who were among the first to spot the problem. More than a decade ago, 71% of middle and high school teachers identified cell phones as a classroom management headache. New data suggests a broader consensus is emerging. In 2025, 22 state legislatures passed laws restricting cell phones in schools. Now a new Pew survey reports that 74% of adults support phone bans during class, up from 68% a year earlier. More surprisingly, support for full-day bans has also grown, with 44% of adults backing sweeping restrictions. That’ll be welcome news for educators, who want cell phones gone. “The stricter the policy, the happier the teacher and the less likely students are to be using their phones when they aren’t supposed to,” says Angela Duckworth, a UPenn professor who has surveyed over 20,000 K–12 educators about cell phone policies. Even kids are persuadable. A 2025 study concluded that resistance to phone bans melted away when students experienced their benefits, leaving them “significantly more supportive” of restrictions going forward. Teachers, legislators, parents, students: Collective action. |
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