Classroom Technology

How to Manage Cellphones in Schools: 6 Tips From Teens (Download)

By Arianna Prothero & Kevin Bushweller — July 24, 2024 1 min read
Sets of hands holding phones. Scrolling smartphones, apps mail, applications, photos. cellphone camera.
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A rising number of school districts and states are putting in place more restrictive policies to curb the use of cellphones in schools. The policy trend is a direct response to concerns that the devices are hurting students’ abilities to concentrate in school and build meaningful relationships with peers and adults in their lives.

But in many cases, policies are being put in place before the people most affected by such measures—the students themselves—are asked what they think would work best.

To give educators a teenage perspective about the benefits and drawbacks of cellphones in schools, Education Week published interviews with three teenagers:

Young man and woman without energy on giant phone screen with speech and heart icons above them. Addiction. Contemporary art collage. Concept of social media, influence, online communication
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
Photo collage of hands holding phones with communication symbols superimposed. Learning phone etiquette.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images
Young girl looking on mobile phone screen with multicolored social media icons. Finding community, belonging. Contemporary art collage. Concept of social media, influence, online communication and connection.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock

Those stories were used to create this downloadable resource with six tips from teens on how to manage cellphones in schools.

Download the Guide (PDF)

Cellphones in Schools

Explore our coverage around students’ use of cellphones in schools:
> Guide to setting a policy: Here’s a decisionmaking tool for educators to map out the different potential outcomes when putting cellphone policies in play.
> Cellphone bans and restrictions: See which states are requiring cellphone restrictions or bans in schools in our tracker. Explore our tracker.
> Nuisance or teaching tool? How teachers are turning an ubiquitous and growing class nuisance—the smartphone—into a tool for learning.
> Cellphone policies, explained: Education Week breaks down the different ways schools are addressing cellphone use, and the factors to weigh before adopting or changing the rules. Check out our explainer.
> Tips from teens & teachers: Teenagers offer 6 tips on how schools should manage students’ cellphone use, and educators share their tips on policing cellphone use in classrooms.
> Then & now: How the “sexting” panic previewed today’s debate about kids’ cellphone use.

Complete coverage on cellphones in schools >

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Vanessa Solis, Associate Design Director contributed to this article.
A version of this article appeared in the August 14, 2024 edition of Education Week as How to Manage Cellphones in Schools: 6 Tips From Teens

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