# Airplane Mode: The Evidence Behind Cell Phone Bans June 12, 2026 - [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog) Alabama’s State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey says there's a rare issue drawing approval from Moms for Liberty, tiger moms, and soccer moms alike. The unlikely point of agreement? Keeping cell phones out of schools, a hot topic explored by the first panel at the Strategic Data Project’s 2026 annual convening, “Airplane Mode: The Evidence Behind Cell Phone Bans.” These bans have been making waves lately, with [38 states instituting bans or restrictions](https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&pf=1&ai=DChsSEwiPgPnw8P-UAxV8NAgFHc6nGcoYACICCAEQABoCbWQ&co=1&ase=2&gclid=CjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6V2IRM5PZTakAs6nqjmuGQ29B0kzV0nOAGEVV0cpWOz2f3nUNhoFlERoCT8gQAvD_BwE&cid=CAAS0wHkaBhLLpA-4rZSgIVPhtTdy7ltsspr52pGnyqhP4Ejiyxk9TY3zcZrD1df1PyP5JI_9nPhDr7kEGFo517tqBv8YJ4NumYtoPYJFjo9oMPqDZ2-s34dOR_0NM0vC7suxv37fZevfswjghNkfEIFz5csKUBnQ6ZsaoiVA1tqpPlvF7lPcGZefpPWvSAOeRuD5cKEXq6SoiMLjqy0GpWzdblxE5Ny5grJQ0lR9K5200IgGHvHclid63DMfghoP_6u118Nlq0xlp04Ekn-NNo_Gc05sxsA&cce=2&category=acrcp_v1_32&sig=AOD64_07Xb-oS9D1F0_qZDrknW1lvTqCWg&q&nis=4&adurl=https://www.edweek.org/technology/which-states-ban-or-restrict-cellphones-in-schools/2024/06?utm_source%3Dgoog%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_campaign%3Dew%2Bperformance%2Bmax-subs%26ccag%3Dew%2Bperformance%2Bmax-subs%26cckw%3D%26cccv%3Dew%2Bperformance%2Bmax-subs%26gad_source%3D1%26gad_campaignid%3D23338998931%26gbraid%3D0AAAAADfp2x1vlJEn7x2Rzp6SPWmm_Mpc2%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6V2IRM5PZTakAs6nqjmuGQ29B0kzV0nOAGEVV0cpWOz2f3nUNhoFlERoCT8gQAvD_BwE&ved=2ahUKEwic9PHw8P-UAxVwmIkEHWOYA6cQ0Qx6BAgXEAE) state-wide and new research emerging, including from panelist David Figlio, professor of economics at the University of Rochester. Figlio’s [2025 NBER working paper](https://www.nber.org/papers/w34388) analyzing the causal impact of bell-to-bell cellphone bans in a Florida district—the first study on cell phones in the U.S. context—found that, in its second year, a ban increased student test scores and reduced unexcused absences, but initially led to a significant increase in student suspensions, especially among Black students. (By contrast, another [recent study by Alcott et al](https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/effects-school-phone-bans-national-evidence-lockable-pouches). examining the impact of lockable phone pouches nationally found no impact on test scores or attendance, and a period of initial disruption with more disciplinary incidents, but positive impacts on student well-being after the transition settled in). ![Mainstage panel-- cell phone bans](/sites/g/files/omnuum4446/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2026-06/5N9A1226.JPG?itok=VYs5Nsh2) *From left to right: Justin Reich, Stephanie Downey-Toledo, David Figlio, and Eric Mackey.*## The Most Popular Policy in the United States? "I think cell phone bans may be the most popular policy in the United States right now,” said Justin Reich, moderator of the panel and a professor of comparative media studies at MIT. “There aren't many policies Massachusetts wants to copy from Florida. Parents like it, teachers and teacher unions like it, administrators like it... Try to find another policy with this degree of popularity.” Even with a nascent research base, the impacts of recent bans can be seen: “[Hacky sack](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/style/hacky-sack-gen-z.html) stores are sold out,” Reich commented. “There are idiosyncratic reports of libraries checking out more books... it's an enormous shift." The bans represent a reversal from the techno-optimism of the 2010s, when the idea of students having access to “handheld supercomputers holding the entire corpus of human knowledge” seemed heady with promise and potential, as Reich said (and has previously [written about](https://cmsw.mit.edu/failure-to-disrupt-why-technology-alone-cant-transform-education/).) Instead, Reich noted, these devices—“engineered as heat-seeking missiles for our attention”—have proven to be distractions rather than the essential learning companions that once seemed possible. Stephanie Downey-Toledo, superintendent of Central Falls School District in Rhode Island, knows this firsthand. Reflecting on the norm of her classroom visits a few years prior, she said, "It felt like we were at a crisis point. Getting into classrooms, a majority of students were on cellphones, watching Netflix, the game was on—they were totally disconnected from what was happening. We weren't going to wait for the state to do a ban—we were going to take this into our own hands.” Her district used ESSER funding to purchase Yondr pouches, in which students lock up their devices each morning behind a powerful magnet and receive them back at the end of the school day. As the research is reporting, these pouches have not been a silver bullet. In fact, Central Falls lived out Figlio’s research: it saw increased suspensions for minor infractions, limited impact on achievement, and student resistance. "Kids had a very hard time disconnecting from their devices,” Downey-Toledo remembered. She saw a student on her cellphone and inquired, "Are you not using your Yondr pouch?" The student showed Downey-Toledo her seemingly full pouch and replied honestly: "If I could undo the magnet, I'd show you my deodorant." The researchers and practitioners onstage agreed: the continuing cell phone pings even in districts with nominal bans are no surprise in the face of student ingenuity and attachment to their devices. ## Changing the Culture of Schools While cell phone use hasn’t been totally eradicated in the district, it has shifted the culture of engagement, Downey-Toledo shared. “We'd love to see test score results, but the change from the withdrawn, passive classroom to an engaged one is huge. Teachers are so grateful. Way too much of their time and energy was spent on device management. Yondr pouches helped them regain that time and effort.” Mackey has also seen the positive impacts of taking cell phones out of classrooms. Like Reich, Mackey used to be a proponent of cell phones in schools in the pre-social media, post-iPhone years. Yet the tides had started to change, and schools were taking action. "We visited a school with an 85% drop in discipline referrals in 3 months \[post-ban\]...It became a poster child of ‘This could work.’ Our state board members came away as believers after that….They passed a resolution encouraging local districts to do it." ## What's Next for Cellphone Bans? It’s not easy to roll back technology use once it’s embedded: Mackey pointed out the ripple effects, which could include students carrying around heavy backpacks again and schools needing to reinstall the lockers they removed in the age of the Chromebook. Yet in the wake of CEPR and Stanford’s recent [Education Scorecard report](https://educationscorecard.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Education_Scorecard_May_2026_Report.pdf)—which found that the United States is in a decade-long learning recession that coincides with the rise of the smartphone—and as more research continues to focus on this question, including several upcoming reports from [CEPR’s States Leading States project,](https://cepr.harvard.edu/sls) these challenges are well worth wrestling with. The panelists were clear that bans are not a magic fix for a decade of lost learning, nor a substitute for strong instruction, tutoring, or investments in teaching. But they are one concrete way for systems to reclaim attention as a scarce and precious resource. As states and districts weigh how far and how fast to go, the work ahead will be to pair this rare political consensus with careful implementation, continued research, and honest engagement with students and families—so that “airplane mode” in schools is not just about locking devices away, but about unlocking more focused and impactful classrooms. See also:- [ SDP Convening 2026 ](/tags/sdp-convening-2026) - [ Technology ](/topics/technology) - [ 2026 ](/year/2026) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)