US study: The impact of phone bans in schools is “close to zero”

File: Teen Vogue

According to The Guardian, researchers from Stanford University and Duke University analyzed approximately 1,800 schools across the United States. In these schools, students were required to keep their phones in magnetically locked pouches, and the results were compared with similar schools without strict bans.

The findings show that the impact on standardized test scores was consistently close to zero and was precisely estimated statistically. Similarly, attendance, classroom attention, and perceived online bullying all showed small to near-zero effects.

Analysis of GPS data revealed that by the third year of the ban, there was a significant reduction in students’ phone usage. However, this decline did not translate into measurable improvements in academic outcomes or other non-academic indicators.

The study also identified differences across age groups: older students showed small positive effects in math performance, while younger students experienced slight negative effects.

Additionally, in the first year after the ban was introduced, there was an increase in student suspensions and a decline in well-being. Over time, these effects diminished, disciplinary issues decreased, and well-being improved, reaching positive levels in later years.

One of the study’s authors, Thomas Dee, stated that these findings should not be interpreted as a reason to abandon phone bans and noted that longer-term implementation may lead to more positive outcomes.