Last October, Mitchell Rutherford and his wife, Claire Pauley, found out they were expecting their first child. However, Mitchell, a high school biology teacher in Tucson, Arizona, often forgot about the pregnancy because of overwhelming stress at work. He said, I would forget we were pregnant. I’d come home and collapse, feeling suicidal at times.
Mitchell struggled to cope with his students’ constant use of smartphones in class. It affected his mental health and his ability to focus on teaching. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, he decided to quit after 11 years of teaching. “Students’ phone addiction made me a worse husband and left me feeling like I wasn’t making a difference,” he said.
Phone Use in Schools: A Growing Concern
Many states are addressing this issue. Some, like Florida and South Carolina, have statewide phone restrictions in schools, while others require schools to create phone policies.
Teachers report that constant phone use distracts students and leads to social isolation. Many students feel anxious, lonely, and depressed, which drives them to use their phones even more. For teachers like Emily Brisse in Minnesota, banning phones in her school helped students focus and reconnect socially. She noticed students were learning to talk to each other and pay attention again.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, teacher Abbey Osborne’s school collects phones at the start of the day and returns them at the end. She sees a big difference in student behavior, with more collaboration and focus in class. Still, students rush to check their phones the moment they’re returned.
Why Teens Struggle with Phones
Teenagers naturally crave social connection and validation, which social media amplifies. Combined with their developing brains, this makes it hard for them to resist the constant notifications. A 2023 report found that teens receive a median of 237 notifications daily, making focus even harder.
Julie Scelfo, founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, argues that phones interfere with kids’ mental and social development. Smartphones are designed to be addictive, she said. She regrets giving her sons smartphones too early, comparing it to exposing kids to gambling or alcohol.
Solutions Schools Are Trying
Some schools use lockable pouches like Yondr, where students carry their phones in locked cases throughout the day. Founder Graham Dugoni says over 2 million students now use these pouches. Schools report more social interaction, increased library use, and revitalized clubs as benefits of the system.
However, phone bans don’t work for everyone. Some students need phones to communicate with family or use tools like translation apps.
Megan Grady, an eighth-grade teacher in Illinois, doesn’t support full bans. She believes students should learn self-control and appropriate phone use. If students misuse phones in her class, she confiscates them and returns them later.
Learning to manage technology responsibly will help them in the long run, Grady said.