"Phones off while school's on": Evaluating problematic phone use and the social, wellbeing, and academic effects of banning phones in schools.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized controlled follow-up study
PubMed 39441661 · doi:10.1556/2006.2024.00058
What was done
Preregistered repeated-measures non-randomized controlled study evaluating the short-term effects of a phased mobile phone ban among Grade 7 to 12 students across five South Australian public secondary schools. A 2 (phone ban: yes vs. no) × 2 (time: baseline vs. 1-month follow-up) design was used with surveys drawn from LSAC and PISA to assess problematic phone use, academic engagement, school belonging, bullying, and ban compliance (n = 1,282 at baseline; n = 1,256 at follow-up).
What was found
Problematic phone use was reported by 2.6% of the sample. Older age and higher social media use predicted lower compliance. Linear mixed models indicated that ban and no-ban schools did not differ significantly on problematic phone use, academic engagement, or school belonging. Bullying was slightly higher in the ban group, but bullying decreased significantly across both groups (abstract reports no effect sizes or p-values).
Why it matters
Despite policy widespread assumptions that phone bans enhance learning and social connection, this study shows no measurable short-term academic, wellbeing, or social benefits from restricting school phone access.
Limits
Follow-up was limited to only one month, schools were non-randomly allocated, outcomes relied on self-report surveys from five schools in one Australian state, and the abstract omits exact point estimates, confidence intervals, and test statistics.