Should Phones Be Allowed in School?

It’s one of the biggest conversations happening in schools right now. Should students be allowed to have their phones with them during the school day; or should they be put away, locked up, or banned entirely?

The honest answer is that it’s complicated. The research points in different directions, parents and educators don’t always agree, and students have opinions too. What’s becoming clearer, though, is that phone policies alone may not be enough. Teaching young people how to use technology responsibly, often called digital citizenship, might matter just as much as where the phone sits during third period.

Phones in Schools in 2026

Phone use in schools has exploded as a policy issue. As of early 2025, roughly two-thirds of states have adopted some form of restriction on student phone use during the school day, a dramatic shift from just a few years ago.

The concern is real. A February 2025 report from the National Center for Education Statistics found that more than half of school leaders believe phones have negatively impacted their students’ academic performance, and nearly three-quarters pointed to negative effects on mental health and attention span.

It’s easy to see why administrators are acting. But the question of whether those policies are working, and working for everyone, is still being sorted out.

The Research on Phones in Schools

Academic Performance

There’s solid evidence that phones are a classroom distraction. Studies consistently show that students who use their phones during class, even just having them visible, tend to retain less information. Some schools that have implemented phone-free policies have seen meaningful improvements in student engagement and outcomes.

That said, the research isn’t a clean sweep. A 2024 review of studies across 12 countries found mixed results when it came to the academic impact of phone bans specifically. The takeaway isn’t that bans don’t work, it’s that how a policy is designed and enforced matters a lot.

Mental Health

The link between phone use and teen mental health gets a lot of attention, and for good reason. Heavy social media use in particular has been associated with higher rates of anxiety, sleep problems, and low self-esteem among adolescents.

But the relationship is nuanced. Passive scrolling appears to be the biggest culprit, while more intentional or social uses of technology don’t show the same negative patterns. And when schools have implemented phone-free environments, some of the most interesting benefits have been social ones; students talking to each other more, participating in extracurricular activities at higher rates, and reporting stronger peer connections.

Self-Control

One thing the research makes clear: phones are designed to be hard to put down. Adults struggle with this too. Asking teenagers, whose brains are still developing, to self-regulate around that level of stimulation without any structure or guidance is a tall order.

The Case for Teaching Digital Citizenship

Here’s the thing about phone bans: they work while the ban is in place. But eventually, the phone comes back. And if students haven’t learned how to use it thoughtfully, a policy hasn’t really solved anything; it’s just delayed the problem. That’s where digital citizenship comes in.

Teaching students how to engage responsibly and kindly online, how to think before they post, how to recognize when technology is affecting their mood, how to stand up for others in digital spaces, builds skills that last beyond any school rule.

Research backs this up. Students who receive digital citizenship education are less likely to engage in cyberbullying and more likely to treat others well online. And the vast majority of teachers say this kind of instruction helps create safer online environments.

“We’ve spent decades teaching kids how to behave in the hallway, in the cafeteria, on the bus. We haven’t yet taught them how to behave online with the same intentionality; and that gap is costing us.”

— Kristi Krings, CEO — Rachel’s Challenge

What Good Phone Guidance Looks Like

Schools and families that are navigating this well tend to share a few things in common:

• Clear, consistent expectations.  Students respond better to rules they understand and that are enforced consistently. Ambiguity creates workarounds.
• Education alongside policy.  Pairing phone restrictions with actual instruction on responsible use builds both compliance and real-world skills.
• Family involvement.  What happens at home matters. Families that have open, ongoing conversations about phone use tend to raise more self-aware digital citizens.
• Student voice.  Young people are more likely to respect rules they had a hand in shaping. Including students in the conversation models the civic thinking digital citizenship is all about.

Kindness Online with Rachel’s Challenge

At Rachel’s Challenge, the mission has always been about the ripple effect of kindness; the idea that one compassionate act can set something bigger in motion.

That same principle applies online. The digital world is where a huge portion of adolescent life now plays out; where friendships are built, where conflicts happen, where young people figure out who they are. Showing up in those spaces with empathy and integrity is acharacter skill. Rachel’s Challenge addresses this directly through our programs, built around exactly these ideas; available for in-person, hybrid, or fully virtual environments.

“Rachel believed that one person’s kindness could change everything. That’s just as true in a comment section as it is in a cafeteria.”

— Kristi Krings, CEO — Rachel’s Challenge