Cellphone bans improve discipline over time, but academic impacts are limited, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research paper cited in a K-12 Dive article. Restrictions had little impact on attendance, attention and perceived online bullying, according to the paper.
While discipline challenges eventually decreased after cellphone bans were in place, the study found little effect on academic achievement in the three years following a cellphone pouch adoption. There were modest positive effects in high schools, particularly in math, but small negative effects in middle schools.
Disciplinary actions increased in the first year cellphone bans were implemented. Resistance by students who refuse to comply with the bans and worsening behavior as students experience cellphone withdrawals could be causes.
As part of the study, researchers used data from GPS “pings” from 40,542 schools, from January 2019 to January 2026. That data showed a 30% decline in total GPS pings by the third year after school adoption of a pouch policy. The research notes this data includes GPS pings on adults’ cellphones and that student cellphones in lockable pouches can be pinged when on but not in use.
The study also draws on school administrative records and surveys, including student survey data from Panorama Education, an education technology company. Researchers from Duke University, Stanford University, University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania contributed to the study.
Thomas Dee, co-author of the NBER study says the results show “early evidence” that cellphone bans can drive down cellphone use in the schools. He’s concerned though that the mixed results on student academic achievement may lead school leaders to prematurely scrap cellphone restrictions.
“There are some encouraging results in this early national study that I think should motivate us to stay in the fight and figure out how to get it right,” Dee says.
K-12 Dive
