Why More Schools Are Banning Phones - and What It Means for Home Rules

114 countries have now banned or significantly restricted mobile phones in schools as of 2026 (up from 48 countries in 2023). Australia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Brazil are among the latest additions to a growing list. In the U.S., 46 states have now introduced or passed school phone restriction legislation.

India is taking things more slowly - the Delhi High Court ruling in 2025 argued for regulated use over outright bans and Gujarat announced it was banning phones in primary schools. But the research is clear enough that Indian parents need to know what this means - to schools, and to home rules.

Here's what the research says about school phone bans

Beland and Murphy's 2015 study in four English cities published in Labour Economics of schools which banned mobile phones saw test scores of students aged 16 improve by 6.4% of a standard deviation. This is equivalent, the researchers found, to an extra five full days of the school year - or an extra hour of instruction per week, at zero additional cost.

Importantly, this boost was twice as large for low-achieving students; high-achieving students were relatively unaffected by whether mobile phones were a presence or not. This has implications: the phone access in schools disproportionately affects the students who are most vulnerable academically.

In a 2023 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, findings were repeated from studies in, among others, Spain, Norway and Australia, which saw mathematics and science scores improve and instances of bullying fall after banning mobile phones.

A New Zealand school which used a pouch system for locking away phones in their first year saw improvement of 15-20% across the board for Years 9-12 in academic results.

The Indian school landscape in 2027

There is currently no national policy governing mobile phones in India's schools, leaving rules to individual schools and states. The current state of affairs is as follows:

• Gujarat: 2025 policy to ban phones in primary schools - one of the first state-level policies
• Delhi High Court 2025: favoured 'regulated use' over outright bans - technology as a tool with controlled access
• Private schools: many have unofficial phone policies, allowing phones in breaks but not in the classroom
• Government schools: highly mixed, with many in urban areas unable to enforce rules even when they are in place

What school phone policy means to you, home rules

If your child's school bans or restricts phones, then this is your opportunity to enforce rules at home which reflect those at school. Consistency is key to making rules stick.

If your child's school has no phone policy, or has a phone policy which isn't enforced, then the onus is on the home to carry out research. Here's what is recommended:

• No phone in the classroom at home: the study area should be phone-free during homework time, for the same reason phones are disruptive in classrooms - the mere presence of a phone reduces available cognitive capacity
• Shared phone charging station outside the bedroom: see Blog 25 on sleep - the phone leaving the bedroom is the single most impactful intervention available
• Clear phone-free times: mealtimes and the first 30 minutes after school - these are the two most important transition periods and the ones where phone interference causes the most relational and developmental damage

When your child's school announces a phone ban, present it to your child not as punishment but as information: 'the research on this is really clear and the schools that have done this are seeing better results. Let's talk about what we want to do at home too.'

Does your child's school have a phone policy? Is it enforced?