Across the schools in The Education Partnership’s program, a quiet but significant shift is underway. One by one, districts are making the same call: smartphones don’t belong in the classroom, at least not during the school day. What once felt like an outlier policy is quickly becoming the norm. Now, it may soon be the law.
Just this week, the Pennsylvania House passed legislation that would ban cellphone use throughout the entire school day, from morning bell to dismissal, including lunch and passing periods. Sponsored by Fox Chapel Democrat Mandy Steele and passed by a vote of 126 to 75, the bill will likely garner support in the Senate, which has already passed a similar measure, and Governor Josh Shapiro is also on record supporting a full-day ban. The momentum in Harrisburg is a clear signal: the conversation our program’s schools have been having for years is now a statewide priority.
The schools in our programs are helping lead the way on a change that reflects a broader national trend. Over the past decade, smartphones and tablets have become a fixture of childhood. A recent study by Common Sense Media found that by age 4, more than half (58%) of children already own their own tablet, and by age 8, nearly 1 in 4 have their own cellphone. As these devices followed children from home into the classroom, schools faced a question they’re still wrestling with: do smartphones belong there at all?
Recently, we spoke with Colette Walsh, a local parent of three and an active member of the growing organization PA Unplugged, to hear about her firsthand experiences with phone use in the classroom.
The Case for Putting Phones Away
For those leading the charge, the reasoning is straightforward: smartphones are incompatible with focused learning, and the data backs them up. A study by the UK’s Policy Exchange found that students progressed by 1 to 2 grade levels when schools implemented effective technology bans. Researchers also found correlations with reduced bullying, lower social media usage, more physical play during breaks, and stronger overall academic performance.
Organizations like PA Unplugged, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit growing its presence in the greater Pittsburgh area, have turned that research into community action. It rallies parents around the idea that less screen time in school isn’t a step backward but a step toward healthier, more engaged kids.
For many parents, the appeal goes beyond academics. It’s also about the social learning that happens in the margins of the school day. Walsh described her daughter’s experience after transferring to a local public school: “She would come home and say that everyone was on their phones because she had a hard time making friends. We’d ask, ‘Well, don’t you talk to people at lunch?’ and she’d say, ‘No, people are on their phones.’ And we’re like, ‘What about in between periods?’ On their phones. ‘What about the five minutes before class?’ On their phones. We were shocked.”
The concern extends beyond missed social opportunities. Walsh also noted that when her children have access to their devices during the school day, they regularly call and text her to help solve minor problems rather than working through challenges on their own. As she put it, “It’s about self-advocating and trying to figure out problems on your own.” Research supports this concern as well. According to a study published in PLOS ONE through PubMed Central, regular mobile device use in young children was linked to higher rates of behavioral problems, including difficulties with conduct and attention, compared to children who used devices less frequently.
The Divide No One Is Talking About Enough
Buried beneath the broader debate is a quieter and more uncomfortable conversation: for many lower-income families, smartphones are not a distraction but a necessity, and school technology policies can cut in complicated ways depending on a family’s circumstances.
When schools integrate technology into their curriculum through online assignments, digital textbooks, learning apps, or homework portals, they are often assuming that every student has reliable access to a device at home. For many families, that assumption doesn’t hold. A smartphone may be the only screen in the house, shared among siblings, dependent on a limited data plan that runs out before the month does, or nonexistent altogether.
In that context, a school policy that leans heavily on personal devices for learning without accounting for who actually has them can quietly penalize the students who are already at the greatest disadvantage. The child who couldn’t complete the online assignment isn’t necessarily disengaged. They may simply not have had a way to do it.
The flip side is equally complicated. When schools ban smartphones outright, students who rely on their phones for internet access outside of school hours can find themselves cut off from coursework the moment they walk out the door. A policy that feels protective to one family can feel punitive to another.
What’s missing from many of these conversations, advocates say, is a frank acknowledgment that access to technology is not a given. Decisions made at the district level can land very differently depending on a family’s economic reality. Before schools can decide whether phones belong in classrooms, some argue they need to first ask a harder question: have we made sure every student has what they need to learn without one?
A Trend Still Taking Shape
What makes this moment interesting is that there is no single model for what a phone ban even looks like. Some schools in our programs require phones to be locked in pouches at the start of the day. Others prohibit them only during class time. Some have gone further, banning them from the building entirely. Each approach reflects different assumptions about trust, learning, and what schools are actually for.
The conversation is also evolving quickly. As more districts adopt restrictions and more research emerges, opinions that once seemed settled are getting complicated again. A policy that looks like common sense to one community can feel heavy-handed or even harmful to another.
What’s clear is that smartphones in schools are no longer just a classroom management issue. They have become a lens through which parents, educators, and communities are asking bigger questions about attention, adolescence, and equity. What role, if any, should schools play in bridging the gaps that exist long before a child ever sets foot in a classroom?
Resources
Common Sense Media. “The 2025 Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight.” Common Sense Media, 26 Feb. 2025, www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-2025-common-sense-census-media-use-by-kids-zero-to-eight.
PA Unplugged. PA Unplugged, 2026, www.paunplugged.org.
Phillips, Sean, et al. “Disconnect: The Case for a Smartphone Ban in Schools.” Policy Exchange, 30 Apr. 2024, policyexchange.org.uk/publication/disconnect/.
Hsieh, Pei-Hsuan, and Tzu-Chiang Lin. “Behavioral Intentions of Elementary School Students toward Smartphone Use and Learning Effectiveness.” Education and Information Technologies, vol. 28, 2023, pp. 1–30, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9651103/.
Hosokawa, Rikuya, and Toshiki Katsura. “Association between Mobile Technology Use and Child Adjustment in Early Elementary School Age.” PLOS ONE, vol. 13, no. 7, 25 July 2018, e0199959, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199959.
Riese, Tom. “Pa. House Passes All-Day School Cellphone Ban Sponsored by Fox Chapel Democrat Mandy Steele.” 90.5 WESA, 1 June 2026, www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2026-06-01/pa-house-cellphone-ban-steele.
