Those wondering how to get smartphones out of schools now have an example in Virginia. This month the state’s Democratic-led General Assembly passed legislation mandating cellphone-free education in K-12 public schools. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to sign it.
Mr. Youngkin started this initiative last July with an executive order directing his Department of Education to issue guidance on eliminating phones in public schools. Within months 102 of Virginia’s 131 school districts had implemented some form of cellphone ban.
The inspiration for Mr. Youngkin’s order was social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 book, “The Anxious Generation.” The book argues with compelling evidence that mental-health issues are highly concentrated among screen-addicted children.
Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental-health problems — and the average American teenager spends nearly five. Rates of anxiety, depression, suicide and self-harm among youth have soared since 2010.
As Mr. Haidt wrote last April, studies show “mental health improvements, increases in physical activity, and reductions in bullying when schools go phone-free.”
Cellphones also impede academic performance: 72% of U.S. high-school teachers say phones are a major distraction in class, while 53% of public-school leaders believe they have a negative effect on student grades. Is it a coincidence that National Assessment of Educational Progress scores have plummeted?
As Virginia legislators sought to codify Mr. Youngkin’s order, they wanted to exempt lunch hours from the phone ban. But phones are also distracting during lunch. Mr. Youngkin sent copies of “The Anxious Generation” to all 140 lawmakers, along with a letter urging them to reconsider the exemption.
On April 2 the Legislature unanimously approved his amended version, which directs school boards to “restrict student cell phone and smart device possession and use on school property from bell to bell” — meaning the entire school day.
Comprehensive data on the effect of the phone bans won’t be available until after the 2024-25 school year, but case studies are promising.
Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., participated in a pilot cellphone ban beginning in September.
Students locked their phones in pouches upon arrival and retrieved them after the final bell. By April students and teachers reported higher rates of concentration, less violence and more robust face-to-face communication in school, according to CNN.
At least eight other states have imposed bans on classroom cellphone use. Dozens more are considering the same — including New York, where one high school that banned cellphones in 2023 saw student grades increase to pre-pandemic levels within a year.
The evidence is strong that cellphone addiction undermines student learning, while promoting other ills. Kudos to Virginia for doing something about it.
