Cellphones in Schools (Commentary)

Legislature should act on the pernicious effects of cellphones in schools
By Cameron Staples, President/CEO of NEASC, Jul 4, 2025, The Berkshire Eagle, Op-Ed

Smartphones are tools for communication, collaboration and creativity. They’re also addictive, highly distracting and can lead to mental health issues, especially among children and teens.

In Massachusetts, Senate leaders are exploring legislation that would ban cellphones in public schools. They would not be the first, as 18 states have already passed laws that limit the use of phones in schools.

Schools throughout the state have voluntarily and successfully implemented cellphone policies [1]. Studies point to smartphones and social media as cause for the sharp increase in mental health issues, self-injury and suicide among adolescents, particularly girls.

Almost all people access social media via their smartphone, and the U.S. Surgeon General has issued an advisory on the effects of social media on youth mental health, citing concerns that 95 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 are on social media, and a third of them use it “almost constantly.”

In today’s phone-dependent culture, school leaders are forced to curb phone use on campus during the day, which can range from text messaging friends between periods to scrolling social media feeds during instruction time.

At many of the schools the New England Association of Schools and Colleges works with, cellphone policies are improving the learning environment and having a profound impact on students’ sense of community and socialization.

Brockton High School, the largest high school in the state, is in the first year of its cellphone policy, according to Principal Kevin McCaskill. The school implemented its policy when cellphone usage on campus was at a crisis point, with students struggling to focus in class and making plans over text to leave school in the middle of the day.

The school’s goal was to get students focused on their education and to emphasize the art of conversation. The cellphone policy is doing both of those things and having a positive effect on the culture of the school. Students are talking to each other more, instead of staring at their phones, McCaskill said. One student reported that the school’s cellphone free culture has built a better school community and helped her make new friends.

Schools with cellphone restrictions offer other lessons that legislators should take into account. It’s not enough to simply forbid students from using phones, for example. Schools must consider all of the technology students have access to. They will look for other ways to text and use social media, particularly if they have access to computers, laptops or tablets.

Schools also should establish consequences for violating the policy and enforce them. Do students first get a warning if they’re caught using their phone, or is the policy zero tolerance? Whatever the approach, consequences of violating the policy must be documented and circulated among parents, students and staff.

Teachers, too, must put phones away while interacting with students to prevent any sense of a double standard.

While developing and implementing a comprehensive cellphone policy can be a challenge, the effects will be worth it. Prior to going cellphone-free last year, teachers and staff at Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton were dealing with numerous conflicts among students that played out over social media during the school day. In their first year of a no cellphone policy, school-day social media conflicts between students disappeared.

Wahconah Principal Aaron Robb and other school leaders acknowledge the challenges of developing and implementing a cellphone policy. They also universally agree that it’s the right thing to do.

[1] A revised cellphone policy in Pittsfield schools will result in tougher consequences for students; Matt Martinez, The Berkshire Eagle, August 22, 2024