Christian Schools Link Cellphone Policies to Student Mental Health

Cellphone policies that restrict them during the day, contributes to better mental health, Christian school survey confirms

The new data is also giving public school districts across the nation more confidence that bans are good for kids. New Jersey is the latest state to sign a cellphone ban into law.

Eight in 10 educators at Christian schools rated their students’ mental health as good or excellent in a recent survey conducted by the Association of Christian Schools International and the School Counseling Mental Health Initiative at Denver Seminary. The strongest common thread among those schools was clear: restrictive cellphone policies.

Nearly every school that gave its students high mental health marks reported having limits on phone use. The most favorable assessments came from campuses requiring students to surrender their phones at the start of the day.

“The response option that was most highly correlated with respondents’ perception of ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ student mental health was collecting phones at the start of each day and returning them at the end,” the study found. “Educators at schools with cellphone policies were much more likely to report higher perceptions of overall student mental health.”

Approaches varied. Nearly one-third of schools with favorable ratings collected phones each morning and returned them at dismissal. Sixteen percent gathered phones at the start of every class. Twenty-one percent allowed students to keep devices but restricted use to breaks, lunch or recess. Thirteen percent banned cellphones entirely on campus.

The findings confirm other independent research. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, tracked nearly 12,000 children over three years, found social media use in early adolescence was associated with greater depressive symptoms one year later. Other studies have linked early smartphone ownership to increased risk of depression and poor sleep.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned that social media can harm young people’s mental health and has called for stronger safeguards for children and teens online.

For Christian school leaders, the survey adds weight to a growing belief. Less screen time means steadier minds and calmer classrooms.

–Dwight Widaman and Alan Goforth