School phone bans may actually harm some students’ mental health

Many people are concerned about the negative effects of too much screen time, especially if phone use at school is distracting to students and affecting their learning. But research shows that keeping them out of school makes some students lonelier, at least initially.

“If schools decide to implement a complete ban on smartphones, there are some things they should pay attention to,” says Sanyogita Khare at Radboud University in the Netherlands. “Socially vulnerable youth may experience some difficulties. Students may feel a little more disconnected from their friends.”

Mobile phones and similar devices have been blamed for a host of ills, from poor grades to worsening outcomes in adolescence. mental health. Despite the presence there is little reliable evidence to support these resultsThe Netherlands has banned phones and other smart devices in classrooms from January 1, 2024. Some of these schools also prohibit students from using such devices at any time during the school day, often requiring them to be left in lockers.

To better understand the implications of this, Hare and her colleagues surveyed students at two high schools in the Netherlands, both of which banned smartphones during the school day. The survey was first conducted in December 2023, before the nationwide ban, and again in March or April 2024.

Based on this, the researchers measured two forms of loneliness: social and emotional. “Social loneliness has more to do with your wider network, whether you feel part of a group,” Hare says. “Emotional loneliness enhances the feeling of closeness and intimacy in close friendships.”

Comparing how they changed before and after the ban, the researchers found mixed results. “We found no overall change in social loneliness, but we did find a small increase in emotional loneliness,” Hare says. This could happen if some of the students' closest friends were not at school, so the ban prevented them from having contact with these people during the day.

The team also found that children's overall social loneliness did not increase; those who struggled more with social situations tended to become more socially lonely. Khare emphasizes that these results may not be permanent if students adjust to the ban over time.

One problem with the study is that the researchers did not compare these schools with other schools in the Netherlands that are more relaxed, for example by allowing phone use during breaks, says Jonathan Cantor at RAND, a nonprofit research organization in California. “To make meaningful comparisons, we need data on similar students from similar schools without the ban. Without this, we will not be able to determine whether the results reflect broader trends.”

Both Hare and Kantor say there is a lack of basic data on the impact of banning phones in schools. Kantor and his colleagues recently tried to improve the situation by studying phone bans in US schools, where they are not mandatory.

They found that policies vary greatlyHowever, some schools ban them altogether, while others allow students to use phones in class at the discretion of the teacher. In the UKThe government regulation discourages the use of phones in schools, but leaves it up to school leaders to decide whether to ban the use of such devices.

“The biggest challenge right now is that in order for us to accurately estimate the school-level effects of these policies, we need detailed data on the type of policy and when it went into effect,” Kantor says. “That's what everyone is trying to analyze right now.”