Cell phone bans for the win!

Teachers in states and districts with cell phone bans describe positive impacts on student learning and school culture.

  • “The Taylor [Swift]/Travis [Kelce] news broke at the beginning of 3rd block. No students mentioned it the entire block. And that’s how I know the cell phone ban is good for learning.” —AP Psych Teacher in Alabama
    • “Right?!?! Also, it was so fun getting to tell them and share a moment when we had a few moments at the end of class. Not just everyone dug into their own device to react, but having that tiny moment of community was a breath of fresh air.” —Teacher in Texas
    • “I happened to be on prep and I usually start by looking at news for current events for my gov class.  I thought it was a hoax because none of my students had said anything.  And then I realized… they didn’t know yet.” —Teacher in Indiana
    • “Indeed. I heard nothing about it until after I was home! Incredible.” —Teacher in Iowa
  • “I’m in Texas and the cell phone ban has been 100 percent amazing.” —Middle School Teacher in Texas
  • “It is wild to see 11 and 12 year olds exhale now that they don’t have to have a phone, keep track of a phone, and actively work to resist using the phone (that I’ll remind you is designed to be impossible to ignore). The kids would ALMOST say thank you but…ya know, middle schoolers.” —Educator in New York
  • “HS teacher here. We’re a week into school and I’ve seen so much more collaboration and participation per class than I saw even by the end of last year. I started teaching the year before COVID and this is the most I’ve enjoyed [teaching] since then.” —HS Teacher in Texas
  • “It’s been a week [since classes started] and my class was just fine without [cell phones]. No chaos. No pushback. No whining. Everyone was alert and learned.” —Teacher in Texas
  • “Texas finally did something right by banning phones in school. Classroom engagement has been the highest it’s ever been, the students are talking to each other, playing cards at lunch instead of sitting there with their eyes glued to a screen. They’re doing homework in class, paying attention to the lecture. It’s amazing.” —HS Teacher in Texas