National School Cellphone Policy Study

November 2025 - Current

Summary

Youth Policy Lab is conducting a three-year national study of the impacts of school cellphone policies on academic outcomes and student wellbeing. This initiative was launched at a pivotal moment as districts are rapidly implementing cellphone restrictions.

One component of this project involves partnering with Yondr, a company that makes cellphone-blocking pouches for schools, to understand how these pouches affect academic achievement, school engagement, behavioral incidents, chronic absenteeism, and socio-emotional measures.
A second component involves partnering with Monitoring the Future (MTF), which has continuously administered a nationally representative survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the US on beliefs, attitudes, and behavior since 1975. New phone-policy related questions on MTF's annual student survey will enable the research team to explore the impact of school-based cellphone restrictions on a rich, broader set of outcomes, including aspects of academic engagement, behavior, and social-emotional wellbeing.

The research team is complimenting Yondr and MTF data with several administrative data sources, to provide actionable evidence on whether strictly enforced phone policies (i.e., pouch use) can meaningfully improve student outcomes. Partners on this study include Dr. Jason Baron at Duke University; Angela Duckworth at University of Pennsylvania; and Dr. Thomas Dee, Dr. Hunt Allcott, and Dr. Matt Gentzkow at Stanford University. Dr. Richard Miech from the University of Michigan is working with the team on the Monitoring the Future analysis. This project is funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation and Arnold Ventures.

Person looking at cell phone in forefront, blurred students and teacher in classroom in background

2026 National School Cellphone Policy Conference

On April 10, 2026, YPL convened a National School Cellphone Policy Conference. With support from Arnold Ventures, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers gathered to share research findings, discuss critical unresolved issues, and explore the broader policy landscape surrounding school cellphone restrictions.