Locking up students' phones may not improve their mental health or test scores, a new study finds.
Restricting students' access to cellphones in school is a popular bipartisan idea. It's anchored in the widespread belief that the devices are a distraction at best and toxic at worst during what experts have diagnosed as a youth mental health and education crisis. But does it work?
So far, at least 38 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted statewide restrictions or otherwise directed school districts to curb cellphone use in schools since the pandemic. It's the domestic equivalent to the global push to limit kids' access to social media.
But a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research says phone constraints show mixed results. Its authors looked at one specific approach: Requiring students to keep their phones in a locked bag during the school day.
- In the first year of the policy, "disciplinary incidents increase and student subjective well-being falls, consistent with short-term disruption."
- But the impact on well-being becomes positive in later years, and disciplinary effects fade...
Read the full story by Oliver Knox on US News and World Report