s of late 2025, over 30 states have enacted some form of legislation or executive action addressing personal devices in schools. This transformation is driven by converging forces: post-pandemic academic recovery needs and an acute youth mental health crisis.
Recent global monitoring shows that 114 education systems now have a national ban on mobile phones in schools, representing 58% of countries worldwide. The expansion has been rapid. Less than 1 in 4 countries (24%) had bans in June 2023, when it was first monitored in the 2023 GEM Report.
Today, 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class, up from 68% last fall. Far fewer (19%) oppose classroom bans and 7% are unsure, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in June.
As we can see from the illustration, Phone Ban In Schools Statistics has many fascinating aspects to explore.
a Pew Research Study stating 74% approve a phone ban during class in 2025, up from 68% in 2024 (Gottfried et al, 2025). The reasons for this vary between class behavior, academic performance, and social skills, as U.S. adults cite these reasons as to why they would support a full day ban.
In this report, the authors discuss selected findings from surveys of principals and youth about their experiences with cell phone policies in kindergarten through grade 12 schools during the 20242025 school year.
School phone bans based on lockable pouches significantly reduced phone usage, but in the first year, disciplinary incidents rose and student well-being fell. That changed by the third year, when disciplinary issues returned to previous levels and well-being increased.
