Report shows NJ’s cell phone ban in schools will be pointless

New Jersey is about to join the growing list of states implementing a strict “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban in schools. Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, students will largely be prohibited from using their phones from the first bell until the last, according to reporting by the Courier Post.

Supporters say the move will improve focus, boost grades, reduce distractions, maybe even save an entire generation from TikTok-induced brain rot, and have everlasting peace across the land with unicorns and rainbows. It sounds great.

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There’s just one problem.

The evidence suggests it probably won’t accomplish most of those goals.

A major new Stanford-led study examining cellphone bans at more than 43,000 schools found that while phone restrictions dramatically reduced phone use during the school day (well, obviously it would), they produced virtually no meaningful improvement in test scores, attendance, classroom attention, or bullying.

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In fact, disciplinary incidents actually increased during the first year after bans were implemented. The academic benefits many policymakers promised simply didn’t materialize. The researchers described the effects on test scores as "consistently close to zero."

That’s not exactly the educational revolution we’ve been hearing about.

I understand why lawmakers love this policy. It sounds good. It’s simple. It’s visible. It allows elected officials to point to a problem everyone agrees exists and say they’re doing something about it.

It's great virtue signaling for hack politicians.

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But phones aren’t the root cause of declining academic performance.

Take away the phone, and students will find other ways to be distracted. They always have. Long before smartphones existed, kids were passing notes, doodling in notebooks, staring out windows, and finding creative ways not to pay attention.

We need to let teachers be teachers again, and reward handsomely the ones who develop engaging styles and creative classrooms.

Administrators have taken over too much of what goes on in classrooms, and many teachers practically have to go off a script written by people who often haven't stepped foot in front of kids in 20 years.

Will students spend less time scrolling Instagram? Absolutely.

That’s what the Stanford study found. But if New Jersey politicians are expecting a dramatic jump in grades or classroom performance, they’re likely setting themselves up for disappointment.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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