Banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms is a growing national trend that educators say boosts concentration, engagement, and test scores. Nearly 40 states have laws or policies that restrict when and where students can use cellphones during the school day. 

But a new survey finds that about four in 10 school-age teenagers overall support cellphone bans in school, only three in 10 Black teens think it’s a good idea, and disproportionate discipline rates may have something to do with it.

Data from the Pew Research Center show that support for school cellphone bans varies by race. While 46% of white teens support these school policies, only 33% of Black teens and 36% of Hispanic teens do the same.

Cell Phone Bans Tied To Punishments

David N. Figilio, a researcher at the University of Rochester who studies the impact of school cellphone bans, says Black teens may be wary of bans because they fear that the new rules could lead to punishment or suspension for violating them. 

“If Black students believe that they will be more likely to be punished in the event of a cellphone ban, they might be more concerned about a new rule in force,” he wrote in an email statement to Word In Black.

Research shows that Black students are more likely to face punishments in school, including suspensions, detentions and infractions, than their white counterparts. 

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According to a working paper by Figilio and Umut Özek, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation think tank, cellphone bans led to a sharp uptick in school suspensions, particularly among Black students, in the first year the policy was implemented. But school punishments fell after that initial year. 

The paper also found improvements in test scores in the second year of the cellphone ban, and that the policy reduced the rate of unexcused absences.

Cellphone bans have become popular in recent years, namely among school leaders. Supporters say the bans help keep students focused, improving test scores and increasing social interaction. 

Are Cellphone Bans the Solution?

Yet Dr. Desmond Upton Patton, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies young people’s relationships with technology, says the bans stifle deeper conversations that would help educators understand why a cellphone is so important to teenagers. 

For some teenagers, phones aren’t just a means to scroll on social media. It can be a tool for connecting with peers, learning new information, and exploring new identities, according to Patton.

Yet falling test scores nationwide sparked a fervor among parents and educators about the effects of cellphones on students’ academic performance. More than half of U.S. states, including Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands, have passed legislation that either outright bans cellphone use in schools or limits it, according to an ABC News analysis. 

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But Patton argues that educators should use data that speaks to how students’ cellphone use affects a specific school building or district. The data should guide conversations between parents, teachers, and administrators about cellphones in the classroom. 

“We should be focusing on encouraging young people to make informed decisions about their technology use as opposed to taking away that decision-making process,” he says. “Because what we really want in the world are young people who become adults making informed decisions, not decisions that are just tossed at them and thrown in their face.”