A pioneering study reveals that banning smartphones in schools isn’t sufficient to enhance students’ mental health and well-being, urging a more comprehensive approach to tackle the issue.
In a new study, researchers have found that bans on smartphone use during the school day are not enough to significantly improve students’ mental health, well-being or educational outcomes.
Published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, the study tracked 1,227 students across 30 schools in England, revealing that restrictive phone policies had minimal impact on reducing overall phone usage and social media engagement.
“This is the first worldwide study of its kind to evaluate the impact of school phone policies on adolescent mental health and well-being, and other health and educational outcomes,” lead author Victoria Goodyear, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham, said in a news release.
Goodyear further elaborated on the findings, adding, “We did find a link between more time spent on phones and social media and worse outcomes, with worse mental well-being and mental health outcomes, less physical activity and poorer sleep, lower educational attainment and a greater level of disruptive classroom behavior.”
Despite schools with restrictive phone policies reporting a slight decrease in phone and social media use — approximately 40 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively — the study found that this decrease did not translate into significant improvements in students’ mental health or academic performance.
The research was conducted over a 12-month period, ending in November 2023, and involved 20 schools with restrictive phone policies and 10 schools with permissive policies.
“Our study suggests that school policies are not the silver bullet for preventing the detrimental impacts of smartphone and social media use,” senior author Miranda Pallan, a professor of child and adolescent public health at the University of Birmingham, said in the news release.
The comprehensive nature of the study highlights the complexity of the issue. Data was meticulously gathered using validated measures of mental well-being, anxiety, depressive symptoms, educational attainment in English and mathematics, and disruptive classroom behavior. Additionally, objective measures of physical activity and sleep were assessed.
Among all students in both permissive and restrictive policy schools, the average smartphone use ranged between four to six hours per day.
The study concludes that while there is a correlation between high smartphone usage and negative outcomes, addressing overall phone use should be prioritized to enhance adolescents’ health and well-being.
“Reducing this time spent on phones is an important focus. But we need to do more than focus on schools alone and consider phone use within and outside of school, across a whole day and the whole week,” added Goodyear.
The findings underscore the necessity of developing strategies that extend beyond school environments to mitigate the adverse impacts of smartphone usage on young people’s mental and physical health, as well as their educational outcomes. The results call for an integrated approach involving parents, educators and policymakers to more effectively address these issues.