School smartphone bans are overly simplistic and not supported by young people

Outright smartphone bans in schools are likely to be ineffective and undermine students’ trust without addressing core issues like harmful online content, cyberbullying and addictive platform design, a new UCL report finds. 

The study found a consensus across students, parents and teachers recognising the distraction smartphones can cause in the classroom. However, there is disagreement over how it should be addressed. 

It concluded that outright bans do not have young people’s buy-in, and rushed, non-consultative policies can have unintended negative consequences. These include new safeguarding concerns, like safety while travelling alone, and a reduction in reporting online harms, due to an erosion of trust between young people and adults. 

The UCL report follows the recent announcement of a social media ban for all under-16s by the UK government.

Report findings

For the study, academics at the UCL Institute of Education, along with Life Lessons Education, captured multiple perspectives. 732 secondary school students, 27 educators and 41 parents were involved in the study. They completed questionnaires, focus groups and arts-based methodologies for a report into school smartphone policies. 

The report found that smartphone bans in schools divide generations. They are popular among adults, with 87 per cent of teachers and 88 per cent of parents polled supportive. However, they are perceived as overly punitive among students, with 75 per cent disagreeing with the policy.

Adults reported being highly anxious about students’ smartphone use, viewing it as an existential threat. This is despite them often using the devices themselves. 

Students emphasised how their smartphones, with bus timetables, weather forecasts and homework apps, are essential tools, embedded into day-to-day life. Students explained how their smartphones give them direct access to support networks. Girls in particular said their smartphones also help them feel safer when traveling alone. 

Reactions from the report

Lead author, Professor Jessica Ringrose at UCL Institute of Education, said: 

“The students we spoke to perceived blanket bans as punitive, rather than supportive. They felt bans undermined trust between them and the adults in their lives, who they felt misunderstood the integral role phones play in their day-to-day routine.”

Co-author, Edith Rodda, a PhD candidate at UCL Institute of Education, added: 

“Rushed school smartphone policies that don’t consider students’ perspectives, however well-intentioned, risk creating a cycle of punishment that ultimately undermines the policy’s aims. Students inevitably find workarounds, like breaking open lockable phone pouches.”

A displacement effect

The report suggests that smartphone bans can create a ‘displacement effect’, whereby the visibility of digital issues like cyberbullying and technology-facilitated sexual harassment are reduced, with students explaining they felt less able to report online harms at school. But the root causes of these behaviours, the harmful platforms and content continue, it adds. This displacement can exacerbate existing problems by intensifying home-based screen time, and eroded trust can make young people less likely to report online harms. 

Digital technology is now an unavoidable part of adult life, but students felt blanket smartphone bans denied them the opportunities to:

• Practice self-regulation 
• Develop responsible technology skills
• Become more informed on the use of AI

Co-author, Dawn Aytoun from Life Lessons Education, said: 

“Schools should encourage students to learn, understand and discuss the ethical, relational and political dimensions of the digital world, as well as the economic models that guide tech companies. Rushed policies that neglect pupil voice can hamper these discussions and leaves students unsupported.”

Schools and local governments are now under statutory pressure to eradicate smartphone use in schools. However, despite the policy push from parental campaign groups, previous research in this area has not captured the perspectives and attitudes of the students these policies would affect.  

Report recommendations

The UCL researchers offer a student-centred framework and informed, proportional recommendations for school leaders and policymakers to consider as they address smartphone use in schools:

• Approach policy development with a harm reduction approach
• Move from prohibition to guided engagement at school
• Address the displacement effect
• Focus on platforms, behaviours, and emerging technologies
• Adopt a Student Centred ‘Digital Use Policy’ Framework

Professor Ringrose added:

“Involving young people in policy development doesn’t mean we’re sacrificing their safety. Ultimately, these plans prioritise students’ futures by building the digital literacy, citizenship and critical discernment they will need long after they leave the school gates.”