Schools across the US banned phones. Teens are demanding more offline support

As students across the country return to school this month, many will be confronting a new reality: classrooms without smartphones.

Educators and parents have long fronted the fight against the debilitating influence technology can wield. Yet, many young people say they’ve been left out of important conversations around school phone policies, which are now in effect in at least 39 states and Washington DC.

Student organizers told the Guardian they support screen-time bans in schools, but such policies are often haphazardly enforced and don’t address the root causes of screen addiction, such as intense social pressure and feelings of isolation. In response, more students are advocating for their own digital wellbeing and developing programs to thrive in tech-free learning environments.

Olivia Howard, a rising junior in New York state, recalled receiving her first iPad when she was in kindergarten. For digital natives like herself, she said, quitting their devices cold turkey was never going to be easy.

“We were the first generation to grow up on technology,” she said. “If legislators are implementing these phone bans, we need to take into account: what are the substitutes? Most kids my age have a relationship with technology, so there has to be other alternatives to replace it.”

‘Harm extends beyond the classroom’

In California, a new state law that took effect on 1 July requires school districts to develop policies that restrict phone use on campus. Elise Choi, a junior at the Orange County School of the Arts, said locking up devices is a step in the right direction but may not, on its own, be especially effective, since “kids will always find a way around regulations”.

As a K-12 policy co-chief with GENUp, a youth-led education advocacy group, Choi spent most of the year authoring and building a coalition for a state bill that would mandate district-wide digital wellness education, which teaches students how social media and AI affect their mental health.

“It’s not a matter of how long we’re on our devices but what it’s doing to us when we’re on it,” she said. “In general, the harm really extends beyond the classroom.”

Teens often stay up late scrolling on social media and texting, Choi said, which can cause insomnia and affect their ability to focus at school. Add to that the constant pressure to seek validation by garnering more “likes” or followers.

“Our entire social lives are happening online,” Choi said. “Digital wellness education is about giving students the understanding and skills to actually make better choices, set limits and understand the impact that it’s having on our health.”

Other students are proactively shaping phone bans at their schools. Liv Kong, a rising senior at Legacy Magnet Academy in Tustin, California, led a student advisory group that conducted surveys and rolled out three pilot phone policies to determine which one best suited students and faculty.

The idea for student-led pilots was formed a year ago, Kong said, after the school implemented a bell-to-bell ban without student input, which sparked a huge backlash. The students eventually chose a policy of banning phones in class but not during breaks.

“Growing up, I’ve seen that imbalance of power between the people who make decisions and the people those decisions affect,” Kong said. “Our mission was to make sure there’s student body representation in those decisions.”

Vihaan Bhardwaj, a rising senior at Mount Everest Academy and GENUp K-12 policy co-chief, said that when the San Diego school district banned phone use in classrooms last year, many students were apprehensive and confused about the intention behind the policy. In response, the committee has been meeting regularly with top education officials to discuss how they can better communicate screen time mandates to students “in a way that feels supportive and not punitive”, he said.

“Young people are on the ground to make sure policies are implemented in the right ways,” Bhardwaj said. “As we’ve been able to talk to them, we’ve been able to make more students aware that these policies are there to help them, not to restrict their freedom or rights.”

Bhardwaj, 17, said he decided to join GenUP and the broader movement to ban phones from schools after an acne flare in middle school sent him spiraling.

“Social media made me feel like I was doing everything wrong – eating wrong, using the wrong products – making my experience with such a normal part of teenage life so dramatic, so life or death,” he said. “[It] took a lot of my energy.”

Building ‘real-world connections’

After New York enacted a statewide bell-to-bell anti-screen policy last year, the nonprofit #HalfTheStory formed Teen Tech Council, a youth-led initiative that allows students to apply for mini-grants and launch tech-free initiatives on campus. Over the past year, the campaign has supported 50 schools and reached 17,000 students across the state.

Two teens in a rural school, noticing that phone use spiked after the art program was cut, placed rolling “crafts carts” around campus where students could use art supplies during and after school. At another school, a teen used the mini-grant to organize a phone-free scavenger hunt where students used disposable cameras to complete challenges.

Cayden Boahene, a recent graduate from Democracy Prep Endurance High School in the Bronx, used a portion of a $4,500 grant to host a Wellness Day event during finals week, where nearly 100 students shot hoops, played board games and formed new friendships without phones.

“I saw most of the students didn’t concentrate in class because of phones,” he said. “Some don’t connect with others and just connect through phones. I wanted to create an event to build real-world connections.”

Howard, who goes to Valley Stream North High School in Long Island, said social media fueled an urge to compare with others in a way that felt detrimental to her mental health.

“I thought everyone’s life was so perfect, so why is my life not like this?” she said, adding that the pressure intensified in high school as test scores and college prospects dominated conversations.

Since the phone ban went into effect, Howard said, the school has become livelier, with one professor observing that he’s never heard so much noise and conversation in the hallways. But for more introverted students, she said, the suddenly raucous atmosphere was overwhelming. Instead of phones, some just turned to Chromebooks during lunch.

Over the past year, Howard and a group of students at Valley Stream have been working with school administrators to develop initiatives that would help students interact in a phone-free environment. This fall, she said, the school will be opening up a so-called “detox room,” furnished with books, stress toys and a sound machine, where students can “regulate their emotions” and relax.

Howard also urged teachers to create more opportunities for in-person connection in the classroom, including more group assignments.

“If someone’s super shy, that’s going to make them practice talking with other people,” she said.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.