School phone bans don’t generally boost grades or attendance. Across the U.S., phone restrictions have been touted as necessary to boost children’s mental health and test scores. But a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that while the bans cut phone usage in class by 80%, they showed minimal payoff academically. Phone bans had a “consistently close to zero” influence over test scores and hardly any sway over attendance, in-class engagement, or online bullying. In fact, across the 5K campuses that required students to place their phones in lockable pouches during school hours, schools noticed there were more disciplinary incidents and a decrease in student well-being within the first year, likely due to friction around the new policy. After the first year, though, those issues seemed to dissipate—which is likely what teachers are looking for more than grade changes. (Washington Post)
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