Enriching Education - School Tech Policies

A new analysis of student phone rules in 250 public school systems, covering all 50 states and Washington, D.C., now maps out a national picture of which policies are most common.

Here are some of the key findings:

• Most districts restrict phones, but the details vary by grade. Full-day restrictions are common in elementary and middle school, while high school policies spread out. Some high schools stay phone-free from bell to bell, and others allow phones at lunch, during passing periods, or both.

• "Phone-free" does not always mean all day. Some policies cover class time only, while others also cover passing periods and lunch. A few districts leave those parts of the day to individual schools.

• In 126 of the 250 districts, high school students may not use phones in class, during passing periods, or at lunch.

• In 66 of the 250 districts, high school students are allowed to use their phones at lunch.

• In some systems, the central office sets a baseline, and principals decide how phones are stored, how rules are enforced, or whether students get additional access.

We also have an interactive search on the study page here where you can look into and compare districts from your home state.