Schools across the U.S. have ramped up cell phone bans over the last few years. Now researchers are testing the effects, and the results are mixed.
Even the researchers, however, are warning schools not to pull the plug on the policy.
The school cell phone ban is one of the few policy agreements between Republicans and Democrats, and principals and teachers are big supporters. Texas shouldn’t waffle on the ban.
As reported by The New York Times, a study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at schools nationwide that adopted Yondr, a magnetic pouch given to students to keep their phones locked during the school day. Researchers tracked outcomes over three years and found that, as you’d expect, cell phone use in school significantly decreased.
However, other findings were ambiguous. The study found that suspensions increased at the schools in the year immediately following the ban with the magnetic pouches — to the tune of 16%. But the effect on suspensions faded with the passage of time.