Overview

School Phone Bans refers to the enactment of various state laws banning cellphones (or smartphones), tablets and other smart electronic devices in schools from kindergarten to the 12th grade in as many as 26 states in the U.S., including Washington, D.C. The ban also affects many Canadian schools. The ban is enacted largely through the use of magnetic lock cases in which phones must be kept throughout the day, unless instructed otherwise by teachers. While schools have attempted to ban phones in class throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the widespread ban started to take effect in Canada in the fall semester of 2024 and in the U.S. at the start of the 2025 school year. The ban inspired mixed reactions, including positive reception from many teachers, who perceived it as beneficial for learning, and negative reactions from some students and journalists, who saw the banning of phones in school as oppressive and anti-education. It also inspired memes from students, including a series of memes about having to sketch school fights on a sketchpad because they don't have their phone cameras.

Background

The history of bans and restrictions on cellphones and personal electronic devices in school is long-running, dating back to the popularity of pages in the 1980s.^[18] Discourse about banning phones in school increased in the 2010s and 2020s as cellphones became more commonplace among school-age kids, the idea being that phones are distracting and harmful to kids' attention spans.

On April 28th, 2024, CBC News^[1] published an article about Ontario, Canada, schools tightening restrictions on phones in class. On October 5th, CBC News^[2] published another piece about the bans being enacted that fall semester. That month, PEW Research^[9] published an article claiming that 68 percent of U.S. adults support the banning of phones in school.

According to BallotPedia,^[3] as of August 18th, 2025, "33 states had enacted laws or policies on K-12 classroom or school cellphone usage." According to the same source, 26 states had banned or limited phone use in schools.

State laws to ban the use of phones in schools were increasingly pushed throughout 2025. For example, between June 30th and July 2nd, 2025, New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina and Oregon all passed orders to ban or restrict the use of phones in K-12 classrooms.^[4][5][6][7]

In some states, phone bans are notably being enacted through the use of magnetic lock pouches that phones must be placed in during school hours, particularly from the brand Yonder.^[19]

Online Reactions

The implementation of and discussion surrounding school phone bans have proven controversial, resulting in both positive and negative reactions from numerous social media users throughout 2025.

Reactions / Memes

Memes about and reactions to the school phone bans became increasingly popularized on social media in August 2025 as the bans were enacted across schools in the United States and other places.

On August 8th, 2025, TikToker^[14] @themjalt, a student, posted a video reviewing the school phone ban in a mostly negative way, suggesting that phones should still be usable during lunch and outside of class. She talks about kids who struggle with being social being outcast by the ban, and says it's "stupid" that she can't listen to music while working, as it helps her work. The video gained over 750,000 views in two weeks.

On August 14th, TikToker^[15] and teacher @teachersandra03 posted a video in which she relays several problems she has with the phone ban, including the inability to take photos of school schedules etc. on the phone and the way it stops students from participating in educational classroom games that require the internet, garnering over 3.1 million views in a week.

On August 17th, TikToker^[16] @zzzero posted a meme about having to document high school fights by sketching them rather than filming them because of the phone ban, garnering over 3.2 million views in four days.

On August 20th, 2025, X^[17] user @tracewoodgrains made a post supporting the bans, reading, "Banning phones in school is the bare minimum for a functional education environment. A school that does not ban phones asks every student to perpetually win a war of will against devices optimized to seize and hold their attention. Make it easy for people to rise above whims," garnering over 3,900 likes in a day.

Taylor Lorenz's Pushback Against The Phone Ban

On December 9th, 2024, YouTuber^[8] and independent journalist Taylor Lorenz published a video in which she speaks with educator Brandon Cardet-Hernandez and ultimately pushes back against the bans, suggesting it is not phones that are responsible for students' lack of attention in school, but the way school is taught, garnering over 13,500 views in eight months.

As school phone bans were implemented further in the 2025 school year, Lorenz continued to push back against the bans, resulting in some backlash.

For example, on August 19th, 2025, Lorenz made a post on X^[10] responding to a video of students locking their phones before class, writing, "these phone bans are part of a wider effort to cut young people off from the internet and open information. It’s fine and great to have a no phone policy during class, but that’s not what these school wide bans are about," garnering over 7,700 likes in two days.

On August 20th, X^[11] user @RaymondSultan pushed back against Lorenz's opinion, writing, "they’re banning phones because they’re horrible for learning," to over 4,400 likes in a day. Lorenz responded, "People learn stuff on their phones all day!"

Later that day, X^[12] user @mia11112233 quoted Lorenz's comment with a video of a TikToker "teaching" viewers that they can pick up tea with a spoon, but not a fork, garnering over 51,000 likes in a day.

Also on August 20th, 2025, X^[13] user @theashleyray made a post suggesting that Lorenz only wants phones to be unbanned in schools because some of her videos have been sponsored by Bark Phone, a phone made for children that is purportedly "optimized for their learning success," garnering over 6,500 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References