Over the past year, and particularly after the publication of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation, student cell phone use policies in K-12 education have become a prominent topic of discussion as increasing research highlights the negative impact of smartphones on youth.
The Jewish Parents Forum, a project of the Tikvah Fund, Prizmah, and the Shefa Center, have been working together to support school leaders and community decision-making on cell phone and social media policies.
As a part of that effort, Prizmah conducted a pulse survey to gather insights into the prevalence of student cell phone policies and to understand what specific measures schools are implementing. As you will see, schools with student cell phone policies have implemented systems that reflect a spectrum of options available, from no restrictions, to limiting access to certain apps, to locking up phones during the day, to strict no phones allowed on campus, to pledges to restrict cell phone access at home.