Minnesota school phone bans: What new research says about student mental health and performance

Corin Hoggard, FOX9

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - As students and teachers head back to school, new research is shedding light on what actually happens when cell phones are kept out of the classroom.

What the research is finding

What we know:

St. Cloud State associate professor Jenny Hill studied the effects of stricter cell phone policies that began even before the Minnesota Legislature mandated that districts have policies — without specifying what those policies should be. Her findings largely match those from a recent study by Duke, Penn, Stanford and the University of Michigan, as well as from local educators.

"Kids are talking to each other more at lunch because they're not buried in front of a screen and they're more active. More books are being checked out from the library," said Jenny Hill, an associate professor at St. Cloud State. "We have fewer fights being played in the bathroom and fewer office referrals," said Hill.

Minnetonka Public Schools Supt. David Law said students themselves noticed a difference. "Our high school students were probably their earliest reporters that they noticed they were more focused in class without cell phones," said Law.

Sean Padden, a Minnesota middle school teacher, echoed that. "I've seen generally happier students, and of course, like you said, that transcends to happier teachers," said Padden.

The backstory:

Some researchers point to the early 2010s — around the time two-way phone cameras were introduced — as when student and teacher happiness began to decline. Academic performance also started slipping around that time.

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