Restrictive phone policies in schools are not associated with overall phone and social media use, or better mental wellbeing, research has found.
Researchers observed 1227 participants aged 12 to 15 across 30 schools. Of those schools, 20 were described as having ‘restrictive’ policies (recreational phone use not permitted) and 10 were described as ‘permissive’ (recreational phone use permitted).
The impact of these policies were measured through comparing mental health and wellbeing, sleep, physical activity, and education outcomes among the participants.
Findings suggested no difference in mental wellbeing between groups. Among those attending a school with restrictive policies, phone and social media use was lower during school time, but there was no difference when comparing usage between groups on weekdays and weekends.
Lead author, Dr Victoria Goodyear says the study is not ‘against’ phone bans. However, she says it suggests ‘bans in isolation are not enough to tackle the negative impacts’.
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