Most Americans support banning phones in schools, but only during classes

A hot potato: The issue of whether smartphones should be banned in US schools is a contentious one. While parents don't want their children distracted while learning, they also want to ensure their kids are contactable during emergencies such as school shootings. A new survey backs up this view, highlighting how almost 7 in 10 Americans support a cellphone ban during class, but only 36% want an entire school-day ban.

The findings come from the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 5,110 US adults. The results show that 68% of respondents supported a ban on middle and high school students using phones in the classroom, while 24% opposed the idea and 8% were unsure.

Of those who favored a classroom ban – 45% said they strongly supported it – the majority (98%) gave 'reducing distractions among students' as a reason why they backed it. The three other reasons were that students would develop better social skills (91%), be less likely to cheat (85%), and it would reduce bullying (70%).

While most people want phones banned in the classroom, only about a third (36%) of participants want them banned throughout an entire school day.

Unsurprisingly, being able to reach a child when needed was the most popular reason for opposing a ban during class, cited by 86% of participants. The other reasons were that the ban would be too difficult to enforce (73%), that phones are a useful teaching tool (70%), and that parents, rather than teachers, the state, or the government, should decide if their child can use a phone in class (64%).

Older adults were more supportive of bans in both the classroom and entire school day, as were self-identified Republicans.

At least 15 states have passed laws or enacted policies banning smartphones in public schools over the past year.

Last month, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law requiring school districts in the state to limit or ban students from using smartphones on campus or while they are under the supervision of school staff. The rules must be passed by July 1, 2026.

New York also planned to ban smartphones in schools, though the state has backed away from the idea recently after Louis D. Brandeis High School failed to properly notify parents during a lockdown situation.

Prestigious UK boarding school Eton College has a novel way of reducing mobile usage among students: offer them school-provided Nokia dumb phones that have no online connectivity.