A new study in Florida found that students separated from their cellphones during school hours had fewer absences and higher test scores. The latest data showed disciplinary incidents stabilizing and test scores rising by roughly two to three percentile points compared to pre-ban levels, researchers reported.
Anna Kutz and Brooke Shafer for NewsNation:
The new study is not peer-reviewed and only looked at one large Florida school district, but researchers said it is the first evidence of the effects of a statewide cellphone ban.
Florida was the first state to pass such a law, but a majority of states have followed suit with laws banning or regulating cellphone use in schools.
With roughly 25% of children owning a cellphone by age 8, students across the nation are feeling the effects of these bans and regulations.
Superintendents at four school districts in Connecticut said they have not only seen academic improvement, but also improved mental health.
The principal at Lakeside High School near Atlanta told CBS News that faculty saw a positive change in student behavior after banning phones during the school day.
Read “The Impact Of Cellphone Bans In Schools On Student Outcomes” report via the National Bureau of Economic Research here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bell-to-bell bans of smartphones should be the policy of every K-12 school, public and private.
Too much screen time is too much screen time.
When asked in 2010 how his children liked Apple’s new iPad, Steve Jobs replied, “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”
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It’s a cell phone ban not an iPhone ban – Way to lead the article.. This is how they get picked up as negative – get the title straight.
According to Piper Sandler’s biannual “Taking Stock With Teens” survey released in spring 2025, 88% of U.S. teenagers own an iPhone. The survey included 6,455 teens across 43 states, with average age 15.7, which aligns closely with high school students (grades 9-12, ages 14-18) in the K-12 system.
Smartphone ownership among U.S. teens (ages 13-17) is 95%, per per Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey, meaning nearly all American teen smartphone users own iPhones.
Hence, our headline stands.
Regardless….The head line is misleading…. as it leaves the impression that only iPhones are subject to this Ban … FALSE!
Cell phones have been Banned Not just iPhones… the rest it extrapolation…..
A generalization is a generalization, MDN.
Brush size doesn’t matter.
iPhone and iPad are two different things.
Mobile entices to talk. iPad and Pencils entices you to be creative. Do not allow cellphones…I agree 100%, but do not leave them without computer. And that too one with the power of iPadOS 26. And the street price of $300 and maybe even lower with bulk or school discount.
I wish I had the power of iPadOS 26 in my hand starting from primary, if you do not like, than secondary school. Remember, Bill Gates used the school mainframe. Now, the iPads are equivalent to Mainframes.
Think. There is a time to talk and there is a time for creativity. Give the students right tools. All technology is not bad. You have choose them wisely.