Schools across the country are increasingly banning smartphones during the school day, over concerns that phones and social media distract students and negatively impact their mental health and well-being. As New York considers a statewide ban, we asked our teen readers to weigh in on one of these questions:
If you’ve experienced a ban at your school, tell us how you feel about it. What has it been like? Has your experience at school changed at all?
If your school has not banned phones, do you think they should? What if any rules around cell phones would make your experience at school better?
Here’s what they had to say:
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1st Place
King Stewart
11th grade, Pathways in Technology Early College High School
Brooklyn, NY
When I first started at PTech three years ago, I hated the school’s phone policy. Having my phone taken away felt like losing a lifeline, like I was being cut off from the world I thought I needed. I didn’t realize at the time how much of that world was just noise.
The first few weeks were rough. I’d catch myself instinctively reaching for a phone that wasn’t there, feeling a strange emptiness without it. But something unexpected started to happen. Without my screen pulling me away, I began noticing people more. Conversations with friends during lunch became deeper, not just quick exchanges between scrolling. Even the silence during study hall felt different. It was like my mind had more room to breathe.
What surprised me most was how much the ban changed my approach to challenges. Without the constant distraction, I started focusing more in class. I wasn’t just finishing assignments. I was understanding the material, sometimes even enjoying it. That focus spilled over into other parts of my life. I began setting goals, small ones at first, and actually sticking to them. Over time, it felt like I was gaining something I didn’t even know I had lost: control over my own time and energy.
Now, I won’t lie and say I don’t miss my phone sometimes. But stepping away from it taught me something valuable about myself. I’m stronger than I thought. I don’t need to be connected to the world 24/7 to succeed. In fact, I’ve learned that disconnecting can help you reconnect with others, with your goals, and even with yourself. PTech’s phone ban didn’t just make school better. It helped me become better too.
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2nd Place
Yechan Chloe Lee
11th grade, Korea International School
La Crescenta, California
Imagine this: a teacher holds up a textbook, calling it a “distraction” because some students doodle in the margins instead of reading. Absurd, right? Yet this is how we treat phones in schools—dismissing their potential because a few misuse them.
Banning phones assumes they are anchors weighing us down while in reality they are compasses guiding us forward. A smartphone is a pocket-sized library, calculator, translator, and even a creative canvas. When used correctly, it elevates learning. In my school, I’ve used my phone to join virtual study groups, fact-check lessons in real time, and even explore coding apps during free periods. Removing this resource feels like fighting the future instead of embracing it.
What’s often overlooked is how phones support emotional well-being—something I’ve experienced firsthand. High school is isolating. Stress piles up and we’re alone to hold it. After failing a test, I remember sitting in the cafeteria, feeling crushed under the weight of my own inadequacy. Texting my mom gave me comfort, a text with a friend reminded me I wasn’t alone, and, later, even playing a simple game—a few minutes of colorful distraction—granted release. Banning phones denies students these small yet impactful moments of connection and self-regulation.
The argument about distractions is valid, but banning phones doesn’t eliminate distractions—it only shifts them. A wandering mind will find its fixations. Instead of banning phones, teach us how to use them. Media literacy classes—or better yet, making all our classes foster media literacy—can help us navigate the digital world with intention, turning a perceived problem into growth.
Phones are not the enemy; they are the future. Schools should guide us in harnessing their power, not fearing their presence. After all, isn’t the goal of education to prepare us for the world and not to shield us from it?
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3rd Place
Liam Barlev
11th grade, The Abraham Joshua Heschel School
New York, NY
Phones pose societal challenges; a school ban on them offers insufficient solutions.
When you think of the moments that you hold most dearly, did a single one of them include a phone? My guess is no. Phones have been robbing children of their childhood in every corner of their lives. In hallways, students spend more time with their necks bent 90 degrees, looking down at their phones, instead of where they are going.
Even outside of school, the minute someone loses their precious comfort, the phone magically slides out of their pocket. It’s gotten so bad that when a video of kids goofing off in a pre-phone high school gets uncovered, it goes viral; we all want that back.
I attend a sleepaway camp every summer and learning from the memories I made, I believe schools should implement a phone ban. To improve effectiveness, schools should keep phones until the end of the school day, maybe creating moments like the ones parents often tell us about at dinner.
While removing phones from educational environments may improve attention spans in class, it doesn’t address the societal social and mental health challenges.
Adults need to provide a more holistic solution. Lawmakers must recognize the compromise they have made with big tech jeopardizing the country’s youth and future. Many users are unaware of or uncomfortable with how much personal information these platforms gather and share. To improve children’s relationship with technology, we must address the design and functionality of phones and apps rather than solely criticizing young users for their behavior through a ban.
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Honorable Mentions
Anonymous
16, Brooklyn, NY
I believe my school should ban phones, except during lunch, for many reasons. Phone pockets don’t eliminate distractions, despite what the administration may think; seeing our phones in the pockets often makes us think about notifications we’re missing during class. If phones weren’t accessible during class, students would have a more focused learning environment and wouldn’t experience the fear of missing out on social media updates or messages.
Additionally, time between classes is often spent in a sea of zombies staring at phones while walking to class, which can lead to accidents like bumping into others or tripping. More importantly, it takes away much needed time to talk to friends in the minutes between classes or simply just the processing of what we just learned. The pressure to check our phones constantly is unhealthy and creates an unrealistic expectation that everyone should be available at all times. It’s become rare to see someone simply walking to class without scrolling through their notifications, and this constant need for stimulation contributes to added stress and anxiety. Phones shouldn’t be attached to our hands all day, and walking to class should be a time to take a minute and breathe, not to obsessively check messages. Besides, most of the people who would be sending us messages are right next to us!
Allowing phones only during lunch would provide time to catch up on texts or use them for payments, like Apple Pay to purchase lunch. Banning phone use during class and between classes would encourage more face-to-face interaction and help students develop better communication skills. Overall, a phone ban during most of the school day would improve concentration, reduce anxiety, and make the school experience more enjoyable and productive.
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Emily Borden
11th grade, The Abraham Joshua Heschel High School
New York, NY
At my school, we recently participated in a 3-day phone challenge, a temporary ban on cell phones during the school day for the eleventh-grade class. Going into it, I thought that not having my phone would be manageable. However, as the challenge went on, I realized just how reliant I was on my phone.
The extent of my attachment became apparent almost instantly. Right after I turned in my phone, I realized I had no idea where to go next. Normally, I would glance at my phone background, where my schedule is saved, but now I had to ask a classmate for help. To my surprise, they were just as confused since they were also taking part in this challenge! I was almost appalled at how accustomed and dependent most of us are to using our phones to simply tell us where to go.
As the day went on, I did not feel the frequent and familiar buzz in my pocket urging me to look at my phone. Without this constant reminder, I almost felt like I had a weight lifted from me. I found myself more present throughout the day. Instead of rushing to check my phone for texts or what notifications I missed before class, I struck up conversations with people who I honestly do not usually talk to.
Lunch was another big change. I usually sit with my friends while at the same time anxiously scrolling through my phone. Without my phone, I redirected my stress into conversation with my friends, rather than continuing my habit of stress-scrolling, which, as I know, makes me more overwhelmed.
This challenge–while inconvenient–felt oddly stress-free. It felt refreshing to take a break from my phone, and made me realize how much I rely on my phone, and how freeing it can be to take a step back and truly connect with what is right in front of me.
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Katelyn Kim
9th grade, Harvard Westlake
Los Angeles, California
“Wait, no phones?!”
From my first day of school, I was clearly informed of the phone policy. Written in bold letters in a school-wide email, it stated, “No phones, periods 1–8; keep in backpacks or lockers at all times.” Yet, underneath, it also said, “All students are required to bring a computer to campus.”
This was pure confusion. Computers and phones are functionally the same: everything you can do on the tiny screen of a phone you can do on the slightly larger screen of a computer. I understand my school’s fear: social media is a force that engulfs us within a self-hating trap of perpetual lies. But I can just as easily access Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms on a laptop. Now, should the school prohibit computers, too? Simply put, that would be traveling backwards in educational time.
Many don’t realize how much technology and internet tools can benefit students. Once, my history teacher was explaining the Punic Wars, and I simply could not grasp the topic. All of the dates and historical figures felt mixed together. However, thanks to websites like Khan Academy and EdPuzzle, I adapted my learning to my needs, and suddenly the Punic Wars became a set of familiar concepts latched neatly in my brain. And my test score the following week? 98%.
Phones are here, technology is here, AI is here. Depriving us from using our phones is not preparing us for the future, or for today. Rather than shun phones, schools should implement them as tools, ones with uses far beyond social media addiction. Through daily, productive use, schools can foster an advantageous relationship with technology, a far better habit than the wasteful one we’re prone to.
We must not hide from phones; we must utilize them.
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Samantha Moore
11th grade, New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities IV
Queens, NY
Phones: A vital tool or a harmful distraction?
This is a question I don’t understand how and why it is still up for debate. I currently go to a school that has banned phones from school like they’re an illegal drug. However, we can bring in tablets, computers, and Apple watches. It’s a counterintuitive policy and it misses the bigger picture.
Some educators claim that banning phones reduces distractions and prevents bullying, but these problems happen anyway! Adults like to act as if school is a safe place like it used to be. Bomb threats, active shooter situations, and other emergencies are our daily reality, and your concern is really if me having my phone is going to distract the class or not? If I want to distract the class or myself I will with or without a phone. Same with bullying and fighting – these things don’t magically disappear without smartphones.
Taking away phones won’t stop distractions or bullying; it only removes my right to feel safe and connected. I should be able to feel secure in school!
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Layla Segarra
12th Grade, Civic Leadership Academy
Queens, NY
Hearing about the cellphone ban back in September came as a shock. I remember thinking, this is ridiculous. Why would they take away our personal belongings? The one we use every day, 24/7, and rely most on? That’s when I realized how ridiculous I sounded.
The attachment I had to my phone became noticeably louder than before; I treated my phone as if it was a child that couldn’t leave its mother’s side. If it was lost I would panic, if I dropped it I would panic, if I heard its “cry” I would immediately check to see what it was alerting me of. It was a distraction to my learning.
I liked to believe it was helping me, but it wasn’t. It was actually harming me mentally and physically. You might think to yourself, “mentally and physically?! A phone can’t harm you that way,” but oh yes it can. The anxiety and desperation to get back on my device and check the latest updates was so bad. My brain would turn into the planet Saturn with my phone being the rings that circled around it.
Phones shouldn’t be banned completely but should be severely limited to only being allowed during lunch or breaks, so our learning and interactions with each other are the main priority in the classroom. The phone often stopped me and my classmates from interacting or getting work done as my words would fly past their ears and the only thing entering them was the entertainment on their screens. It hurt more than I would like to admit because of how little I felt. A small screen was enough to downplay my voice and the courage it took to build that voice.