Phone-free schools

I remember sitting up the back of maths class 2002 with a Nokia 3310. I was in year 12 at the time, and the instant class became boring, I would pull out my phone and start playing “Snake 2” - one of only two games available on that phone, but still enough to keep me entertained and distracted at the time.

Young people now have endless entertainment, information, news, social updates, music, online games, all purposely built to pull them in and keep their eyeballs on the screen. This pull is so magnetic that studies have even shown the mere presence of a smartphone may be enough to cause significant cognitive impairment – even when not being used (Ward et al., 2017; Böttger et al., 2023)!

The only way to combat this properly is a bell-to-bell phone ban, which achieves several goals:

• It improves academic results (Doward, 2015; Sellers, 2026).
• It demonstrates to students and parents the gravity of what screens are doing
• It gives students a six-hour daily detox that they may never get elsewhere
• It relieves the burden from teachers from having to police ‘off-and-away’ policies
• It significantly reduces behavioural and reporting issues (Figlio & Özek, 2025; Department of Education, 2025)

At the time of writing, every public school in Australia has this as their official policy, and most Catholic and independent schools have something similar. But what does a ‘bell-to-bell ban’ mean? Some studies suggest phone bans during school hours have not had any significant impact on engagement, behaviour or wellbeing.

However, most of these studies include schools that had a lax (poorly enforced) or partial policy (allowing use during recess and lunch) in place. These ‘soft bans’ are mostly ineffective - 25% of students will still use their phones an hour per day or more (Horvath, 2026).

What does a ‘proper’ phone ban look like?

Best practice is either banning smartphones completely (something Trinity Grammar and Pymble Ladies College have done up until mid-high school) or a centralised location, where students either hand them in or put them in lockers for the day where they cannot be accessed at all (Haidt, 2026).

Do pouches count?

The jury’s out on this – they seem to be better than ‘off-and-away’ but not as good as a centralised storage location, and proximity seems to matter a lot (for example, try reading a book with your phone next to you versus in another room).

It seems like every second day I read a decent study or article showing they’re not a good idea, then the next day something else refutes it. My opinion? Try it out. If it works, great, if not, go back to lockers or a centralised location where they can’t be accessed at all.

What about ‘off-and-away’ or ‘recess and lunch’ policies?

On more than one occasion, I have had students in NSW public high schools approach me at the end of a talk, pull their phone out, and ask for a photo, while some schools allow phones to be used during recess and lunch. I believe this is a mistake. As we’ve seen, one of the biggest problems screens are causing are the rise in loneliness, and when students are on them during breaks they’re missing the chance to engage in real and meaningful connection.

Access to phones during these times also brings their online life back into their day even after the phones are away. Have you ever checked “just one email” on a day off, and noticed how it steals mental real estate from your rest? Or noticed it may take three days to wind down the gears when you’re on leave at the end of the year? Think of ‘switching off’ less like a light switch and more like a pottery wheel - it takes time for the wheel to wind down, and every time the phone is pulled out, it gives that wheel another big spin.

What about parent complaints?

The biggest resistance to a proper bell-to-bell phone ban is often the parents. The good news? Surveys suggest a nearly two-thirds majority now support a full-day ban (Ipsos, 2025), whereas just a few years ago it was less than one-third (Selwyn, 2019), and many schools are now finding that, rather than resistance, they are actually being thanked by parents.

If parents feel the need to contact their kid, tell them they can call the school office - if it’s not important enough for that, then it can wait. This was the norm when they grew up, and it ought to be the same now.

What about second phones, smartwatches etc?

Some students may bring second phones, or hide their earbuds under their hair, or use smartwatches or any means they can to get around it. Back the policy up with other consequences, including, but not limited to, immediate confiscation.

Explaining the ‘why’

• For students: frame it as protection, not punishment. For example, “some of you find it much easier to resist checking your phone than others, and for those who find it hard, we know it’s not your fault”.
• For staff: short term pain, long term gain. A clear push to enforce the policy as a priority for a couple of weeks, with everyone on board, means much less of a need to be ‘the bad guy’, and much less time enforcing it down the track.
• For parents: run a seminar, show them the evidence, then survey them afterwards. You now have parent survey data to support your position.

If all of this sounds extreme, that’s because it is. We’re living in extreme times, facing an extreme mental health crisis, up against extreme investment from tech companies to pull young eyes and ears away from what counts.

References

1. Böttger, T., Poschik, M. & Zierer, K. (2023). Does the brain drain effect really exist? A meta-analysis. Behavioural Sciences, 13(9), 751. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328x/13/9/751
2. Department of Education. (2025). Behaviour improves as a result of mobile phone ban. South Australian government. 2nd March. https://www.education.sa.gov.au/department/media-centre/our-news/behaviour-improves-as-a-result-of-mobile-phone-ban
3. Doward, J. (2015). Schools that ban mobile phones see better academic results. The Guardian. 17th May. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/16/schools-mobile-phones-academic-results
4. Figlio, D.N. & Özek, U. (2025). The impact of cellphone bans in schools on student outcomes: Evidence from Florida. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w34388
5. Haidt, J. (2026). The digital delusion: Jonathan Haidt in Conversation with Jared Horvath. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2Loxgnyqs
6. Horvath, J. (2026). The digital delusion. Penguin Random House.
7. Ipsos. (2025). Ipsos Education Monitor 2025. https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2025-08/Education_Monitor_2025%20%281%29.pdf
8. Ministers’ Media Centre. (2025). School behaviour improving after mobile phone ban and vaping reforms. Ministers of the Education Portfolio. Commonwealth Government of Australia. 15th February. https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/school-behaviour-improving-after-mobile-phone-ban-and-vaping-reforms
9. NSW Dept of Education. (2024). Mobile ban improves learning, concentration and socialisation. https://education.nsw.gov.au/news/latest-news/mobile-phone-ban-improves-learning--concentration-and-socialisat
10. Pew Research Centre. (2026). Support for school cellphone bans continues to rise. 29th July. https://www.pewresearch.org/chart/support-for-school-cellphone-bans-continues-to-rise/
11. SA Department for Education. (2024). Mobile phone ban shows positive change in schools. Government of South Australia. https://www.education.sa.gov.au/department/media-centre/our-news/mobile-phone-ban-shows-positive-change-in-schools
12. Sellers, M. (2026). Box the phones, lift the strugglers: giant trial adds fresh weight to classroom bans. The Educator. 19th Oct. https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/box-the-phones-lift-the-strugglers-giant-trial-adds-fresh-weight-to-classroom-bans/289278
13. Selwyn, N (2019). Banning mobile phones in schools not a clear-cut solution. ABC News. 26th June. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-26/banning-mobile-phones-in-schools-not-clear-cut-solution/11248876
14. Twenge, J. (2025). 10 Rules for raising kids in a high-tech world. Vermillion.
15. Ward, A.F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A. & Bos, M.W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1086/691462

Written by Nick Kenny.

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