Michigan School Cellphone Policy Study: Landscape Analysis
As part of a larger CDC-funded project focused on cellphone policies and health, the University of Michigan research team led by Dr. Brian Jacob, Dr. Justin Heinze, and Dr. Elyse Thulin, collected data on existing cellphone policies in the 2025/2026 school year from publicly funded school districts in Michigan. By consulting local and regional education authority webpages, student handbooks, and codes of conduct and confirming details with districts, the team identified and characterized aspects of cellphone policies. Building on a national teacher survey, Phones in Focus, the team recorded not only when phone use is restricted but also how schools restrict phone use, noting cases in which the district policy varied by grade level across a district. While the team examined publicly available written documents, it is possible districts may communicate a set policy through informal channels or practices, and in some cases, allow individual schools to decide on their own rules.
Key findings
- Nearly all districts have a policy that all of their schools must follow
- Districts were split on when they restricted phones
- Districts varied more in how they restricted phones
- Most districts use a No show approach
- No Show is the most common way for Bell-to-bell and Schedule-based restrictions to be enforced
- After No Show policies, methods differ by school type
- Following No Show policies, methods diverge across urbanicity