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By Michaela Gordoni
More and more Americans support school phone bans.
Today, about three-quarters of American adults say they would support banning middle and high schoolers from using phones in class. That’s 68% higher than last fall, per Pew Research.
More than four in 10 Americans support all-day cellphone bans for students, which is up by 8% since last fall. However, 46% of Americans oppose all-day bans. Last year, 45% of adults under 30 supported a ban. Now, 57% support a ban, while 83% of those 50 and older support a ban and 71% of those aged 30 to 49.
The study examined 5,023 adults from June 9-15, 2025.
White and Asian adults were more likely than Black and Hispanic groups to support cell phone bans in class.
Almost half of White adults support all-day bans, and 42% of Asians support all-day bans.
Republicans and Democrats both support bans in class, but Republicans were slightly higher at 78% vs. Democrats’ 71%. Republicans are also more likely to support all-day bans (50% vs. 39%).
The majority of Americans say banning cellphones for the whole school day would positively impact kids’ social skills, behavior and grades. Less (37%) say an all-day ban would have a positive impact on kids’ physical safety, and 39% said it would have no impact.
Related: Has Your State Banned Phones in Schools?
Last year, Americans said the primary reason for a ban is so kids may have better social skills and fewer distractions.
Florida became the first state to implement a statewide phone ban in 2023. Now, 32 states have regulated phone use in classrooms on some level, per Ballotpedia.
The increase in support for bans may be due to heightened awareness of the emotional, behavioral and other problems that phones cause.
Last month, a meta-analysis of 117 studies found that increased screen time can cause these problems, and children rely on screens to cope with those issues, which only makes them worse.
The number of teens who report being online “almost constantly” has doubled since 2014-15. Over half of children ages 8 and younger have their own phone, which is an increase of 45% since 2017.
What children watch on their screens is also very important. Parents can’t rely on school networks to block and filter all unsafe content.
Movieguide® founder Dr. Ted Baehr points out in his book, The Culture Wise Family: “As the results of thousands of studies on youth violence prove, watching media violence causes violence among children. Bad company corrupts good character — whether that bad company is gangs, peer pressure or violent television programs.”
An absence of phones in school would also keep kids away from bad content and online predators, so it’s encouraging to see Americans’ support of policies like these grow.
Should phones be banned at school?
Read Next: Students Praise School Phone Ban: ‘My Attention Has Skyrocketed’
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