UConn Study Explores Benefits of Banning Phones in Schools

(TNS) — As calls for phone-free classrooms echo across the state, anecdotal evidence of the benefits of cellphone bans abounds, but empirical research on the subject is limited. At the University of Connecticut, researchers are working to eliminate the unknowns and gain a clearer understanding of the benefits and limitations of phone-free policies.

As districts across Connecticut turn to new measures to address phone use and social media addiction, a new report from the UConn Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research and Evaluation finds that many school technology policies contain outdated language, limit or make no mention of social media or mental health, and “have failed to keep up with the rapid changes in teen digital media use.”

The study is just the first phase of a multi-phase study on social media and digital literacy, funded by UConn and the Center for Connecticut Education Research Collaboration, that aims to better understand students’ relationships with technology and the impact of cellphone bans in schools.

Connecticut schools saw a drop in behavioral problems, bullying and peer conflicts after restricting phone use during the school day through the introduction of Yondr pockets, phone lockers and other programs, according to a report from the governor’s office.

At Betances STEM Magnet School in Hartford, Principal Anthony Brooks said the implementation of Yondr bags in December 2022 was equivalent to a 50% drop in office referrals and a 30% to 40% drop in in-school suspensions. The reductions were for all behavioral and disciplinary infractions, not just phone-related issues.

“The number of reports and resulting disciplinary actions has increased dramatically,” Brooks said.

“It’s still ongoing,” Brooks added. “We’re seeing far fewer incidents and it’s hard to link it specifically to mobile phone use, but if I look at the problems we were experiencing before the pouches and last year, it’s like night and day.”

Data collection

In February, a study of Norwegian secondary schools found that smartphone bans reduced bullying among boys and girls, improved girls’ grade point averages and resulted in fewer consultations about “psychological symptoms and illnesses in girls.”

The results are significant, but Adam McCready, assistant professor in residence and principal investigator of the Social Media and Digital Literacy Study, said the Norwegian study is “at the forefront of this research.”

“There are other researchers in the United States who are looking at this topic, but the short answer is that we really don’t know much about how it affects teens and their well-being, and the educational environment and experiences of students and teachers,” McCready said.

McCready and his team are working to expand the small but growing literature on phone bans.

McCready said the team is conducting a quasi-experimental study this school year at four Connecticut high schools to measure the impact of restrictive cellphone policies and digital literacy programs on the school environment, student behavior and academic achievement.

One school will eliminate phone use with Yondr pods. Another will implement an eight-week digital literacy program. A third school will implement both Yondr pods and the curriculum, and a fourth will act as a control without intervention.

McCready said the team will collect data at three points during the school year, identifying students’ social media use and well-being at the beginning of classes, halfway through the fall semester and again in June.

McCready said the team’s initial hypothesis is that “the ban is likely to impact the school environment and change behaviors.”

“We hear from school professionals, teachers, counselors, etc., that students are using Snapchat, texting, or other forms of communication and social media to communicate when a fight is about to happen or when other behavior is about to happen at school,” McCready said. “Potentially restricting access to cell phones could reduce students’ awareness of fights or other altercations.”

McCready said the digital literacy component is also a critical focus of the research. Right now, he said, “we’re often just handing kids devices,” without equipping them with the knowledge to be digitally competent and responsible users.

McCready said the team hopes that by the end of the study they will be able to answer the question of whether such education will have an impact on students’ use of social media and their online behaviors.

“I think a year from now I’ll be able to give you a much better understanding and data-driven discussion about the effectiveness of cellphone-free spaces and what value, if any, they bring to student education,” McCready said.

McCready said that ultimately, “the data will show whether bans on personal devices will actually impact student well-being” outside the classroom.

“If students are given these devices back at the end of the school day, is that really going to change their behaviors or interactions after school?” McCready said.

Changing behavior

If you polled politicians or the general public, most people would tell you the science is settled — social media is bad for kids. But McCready said studies examining the impact of social media on students’ mental health offer much more mixed and nuanced results.

While research has linked increased screen time to an increased risk of mental health issues like loneliness, depression and anxiety, McCready said other research has shown that social media can provide “a space where people can find community, build relationships and help really solidify (personal) identity,” especially for marginalized communities.

McCready said the negative impact of social media has less to do with how long a user engages with the content and more to do with who they are and how they use it.

“Typically, time spent on a particular app or the internet in general has not been a good predictor of students’ mental health,” McCready said. “One teen… might be able to engage with social media and it won’t affect them. But someone else might engage with the same content and it might have a bigger impact. So it’s pretty hard to know what the effects will be, even if the dominant public narrative is that it’s negative.”

McCready said that in the second phase of the social media and digital literacy study, which concluded in the spring, the research team conducted interviews and focus groups to better understand the impact of technology on students and their mental health.

McCready said that in conversations with teachers, administrators, social workers, counselors, parents and guardians, one topic came up often — addiction.

McCready said there is no clear diagnosis for social media addiction yet, but said he believes it happens.

“There are algorithms that are designed to keep teens and young adults or just anyone online,” McCready said. “If you look at early human development (in) teens and young adults, the ability to step back or say no to these things is more difficult than an adult who is able to do more with impulse control and not give in to the algorithms or these notifications or these stimuli.”

In the second phase of the study, McCready said teachers told researchers they believed students distracted by devices were “simply modeling behaviors they learned at home from their parents or older siblings.”

McCready said modeling starts at a very young age. McCready said he remembers his oldest son picking up a cell phone and swiping the screen when he was just 1 year old.

During interviews, McCready said parents would say, “My child is addicted to social media,” but they would also admit to “scrolling through Instagram or watching TikTok videos” in a family setting. McCready said other interviewees talked about how teachers would use social media and personal devices in the hallways and classrooms.

McCready said these trends have the potential to counteract the effects of phone bans in schools.

“I use the analogy of the ’50s, when students were told, ‘Listen, you’re not allowed to smoke in school, but your teachers are going to smoke at your desks, and you’re going to go home and your parents and everyone in society is going to smoke around you, but we’re all telling you it’s bad for you,'” McCready said.

McCready said schools cannot be left alone to address issues related to student phone and social media use.

“We really need to consider a collaborative, community-wide approach,” McCready said.

“We socialize kids very early on about how to use technology,” McCready said. “If we really want to change teen behavior with technology, we also need to look at how adults are role models and norming that behavior.”