Study: Schoolwide phone bans show no significant impact on mental health

Ok, but how about student grades? I wouldn't have expected any impact on mental health resulting from a school ban considering the exposure they get every other hour of the day.

The bans are very lackadaisically enforced, and this is in a state where the ban is actually mandated by law (Missouri). My daughter says in high school kids regularly have phones out in class. And a ban even if enforced would not keep kids off these harmful platforms for the many other hours in the day.

Why anyone would expect phone bans to improve mental health is beyond me when the majority of phone use is not happening at school.

Improve grades, improve classroom behavior, maybe. What about those?

Here is a thought. Perhaps phones are not the root issue. Look at the state of society right now. So many of us are ideologically divided to the point where people are afraid to be themselves. This is not an environment where the youth flourish.

It seems really, really obvious to me that phones are bad for learning, mental health, social connection, etc. But nobody has been able to prove this in any studies, even in ones outside of the school environment. At some point I think we just have to do school phone bans regardless of the science.

We live in a society that makes chasing after pleasure very easy therefore nothing feels special or fulfilling anymore. You have to make a serious effort to limit yourself on what you experience. Not because you lack the resources or you're some kind of religious zealot. But because you give yourself the opportunity to truly enjoy little things when you can't have them all the time.

Am I reading Table 1 correctly? It seems to indicate screen time (social media, gaming, etc) is the same between both groups (phones allowed and phones banned). Is that right?

If so, it's no wonder they see no difference. They didn't see a change in the presumed underlying cause.

Are we willing to trade off the convenience of perpetual connectivity to increased well being?

Two things.

1. There is no evidence. Mostly because Well being cannot be really quantified. 2. Convenience and comforts trumps well being. Basic human nature. Are we willing to teach kids abstract concepts such as wisdom and "nishkamakarma" so that they will have well being instead of conveniences and comforts? They will be less of a "knowledge worker" and more of a philosopher. They will consume vastly less, thus would hurt the current system of capitalistic indulgence.

We are not willing to do any of these. At the root, it is you that is causing your unwellbeingness...But you can't change. Deal with it. Stop the whining! Let the kids have what ever fun they want..Don't snatch the phones from their hands. Teach them stuff so that they can see it for what it is (an instrument of manipulators and exploiters), that they are repelled by it.

Yeah...I am ok.

Very interesting. Can anyone explain why phone ban / no phone ban has pretty much the same screen time? Also, is Iceland one of those countries where children have personal computers in class?

It's certainly counter-intuitive.

If anything, it appears the bans were associated with slightly worse mental health:

> In the full sample, the estimated postpolicy association was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.01-1.30; P = .05) for depressive symptoms, 0.21 (95% CI, −0.08 to 0.50; P = .16) for anxiety, 0.23 (95% CI, −0.12 to 0.59) for hostility, and −0.52 (95% CI, −1.08 to 0.03; P = .06) for mental well-being.

> Although a small number of estimates were suggestive of worse outcomes before multiple testing correction, none remained statistically significant after prespecified correction. Results were similarly null in gender-stratified analyses.

I’m reading a lot of cope here. This is not some isolated study. From all the evidence I’ve seen, the disastrous effect of social media is everywhere but in the data. I’m fine with phones being banned at school. It’s not like we allow TVs in classrooms either. And on net I think kids are better off with limitations on their phone use, just as they should have limitations on TV and gaming. But the Haidt narrative of phones as the root of all evil is nonsense. Would that the world were so simple.

When I was in high school in the age of the LG Chocolate, we’d come home and hop on Facebook. So this pretty much tracks. Stopping phone use in schools is probably good for grades but it can’t help whatever goes on after school.

what about teachers' mental health?

> Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Odgers reported membership on the Youth and Families Advisory Committee for YouTube.

All you need to know

This is Iceland, a very homogenous population.

And what-about the effect on teachers and staff? Don't they matter?

I'm being a bit dismissive. This is however a very very small study.

... for youth in Iceland aged 13 to 15 years in February 2016, February 2018, and November 2023.

Apparently they did not control for medication or supplements, such as vitamin D treatments, artificial UV light exposure, or antidepressants.

Alternate interpretation: when it's dark for half the year your mental health isn't dominated by phone access. School's probably a social, cognitive and energy highlight in the otherwise permadark day.

There are studies showing whatever. Most articles about this stuff are just people cherry-picking research to fit their agenda. Positive or negative.