In a study of 30 English secondary schools, pupils at schools that banned recreational phone use used their phones less during the school day, but their mental wellbeing was no better than at schools that allowed it. The 1,227 pupils were aged 12 to 15, and wellbeing scores did not differ between the two kinds of school, while pupils in the banning schools used their phones 0.67 hours less during school time. [goodyear-2025] This guide covers what the SMART Schools study measured, what a follow-up interview study added, what the design could not show and what that leaves for families. Our overview of screen time covers the wider picture.
Do school phone bans improve mental health?
Not in this study. The SMART Schools researchers compared adolescents in 20 schools with restrictive policies, where recreational phone use was not permitted, against adolescents in 10 schools with permissive ones. The primary outcome was mental wellbeing on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. The mean score was 47 (standard deviation 9) and the groups did not differ: an adjusted mean difference of -0.48 points, with a 95% confidence interval from -2.05 to 1.06 and p = 0.62. [goodyear-2025]
The confidence interval matters more than the p value. It runs from a small disadvantage to a small advantage for restrictive schools, which means the study found no sign of a difference and also could not rule out a small one in either direction.
Do phone bans change how much teenagers use phones?
During school time, pupils in restrictive schools used phones less, though this design cannot show that the policy was the reason. Adolescents in restrictive schools had lower phone time during school time (adjusted mean difference -0.67 hours, 95% confidence interval -0.92 to -0.43) and lower social media time (-0.54 hours, -0.74 to -0.36) than those in permissive schools. [goodyear-2025]
Outside school, the picture was flat. There was no evidence of differences when comparing usage time on weekdays or weekends. [goodyear-2025] Phone use differed during the school day, and there is no evidence that overall use differed.
Adjusted mean differences in phone time (-0.67 hours) and social media time (-0.54 hours) during school time, restrictive compared with permissive schools, SMART Schools study (Goodyear et al., 2025), 1,227 pupils in 30 English schools. Bars show the size of the reduction.
| Question | SMART Schools (2025) |
|---|---|
| Who | 1,227 pupils aged 12 to 15 in 30 English secondary schools |
| Comparison | 20 restrictive schools against 10 permissive schools |
| Design | Cross-sectional, observational |
| Wellbeing | No difference (-0.48, 95% confidence interval -2.05 to 1.06) |
| Phone use at school | 0.67 hours less in restrictive schools |
| Weekday or weekend use | No evidence of a difference |
What did the follow-up interviews find?
They found that both kinds of policy had good and bad effects, and that the school context shaped which dominated. The qualitative study ran 40 focus groups in seven English case-study schools, four with permissive policies and three with restrictive ones, and involved 177 pupils, parents and school staff. [goodyear-2026]
Policies influenced wellbeing in several areas: health, connectedness, learning, agency and resilience, and the development of safe and supportive environments. The authors concluded that interventions targeting phone use should be integrated within broader, holistic approaches to supporting wellbeing across both school and out-of-school environments. [goodyear-2026]
What can a school phone study not show?
It cannot show that a policy caused anything, because it compared different schools at one point in time. The 2025 study is cross-sectional and observational. It cannot tell whether restrictive and permissive schools were alike before their policies, or whether a school adopted a ban because of the kind of pupils it had. [goodyear-2025]
Four more limits are worth knowing:
- One outcome. The primary outcome was general mental wellbeing. The abstract does not report attention, bullying, sleep or exam results, so the study says nothing about those. [goodyear-2025]
- Thirty schools in England. Policies, enforcement and school culture differ between schools and countries, and the study covers one country. [goodyear-2025]
- A policy label is not the same as enforcement. The study sorted schools into restrictive and permissive. The interviews found that context shapes how policies land, so two schools with the same label may differ in practice. [goodyear-2026]
- “No evidence” is not “proof of no effect”. The authors say the findings do not support policies that prohibit phone use during the school day in their current form and that these policies need further development. [goodyear-2025] That is a statement about the evidence for the policy as currently built, not a finding that bans harm anyone.
What can families do with this evidence?
Treat the school policy as one small part of a teenager’s phone life, because the study found overall weekday and weekend use did not differ between schools. Use outside the school day is a separate question that a school policy was not shown to affect, and our guides to brain rot and videos you can’t stop watching cover how that use feels from the inside.
What follows is our suggestion, not something the studies tested: look at when and how the phone is used rather than whether the school allows it, and at sleep first. Notice whether it is crowding out sleep, friends or schoolwork, and whether your teenager seems worse after particular apps, and talk about it as a pattern you are both curious about.
Is phone use worth a conversation?
Tick anything that is true for the teenager you are thinking of, or for you. This is a prompt for reflection, not a test, and it produces no diagnosis.
0 of 5 ticked
Several of these together suggest phone use may be getting in the way of sleep, friends or school. Start with curiosity rather than rules, and look at the pattern for a week or two before changing anything. If mood is low or anxiety is high, a doctor can help.
One or two of these is common for teenagers. Keep an eye on whether it is growing or fading.
Nothing on this list applies right now. Checking in occasionally is still worthwhile.
No screener on this site measures phone use or teenage wellbeing yet. The self-assessment hub lists the seven we do have, none of which is built for this question.
When to seek help
Speak to a doctor, or a school counsellor, if a teenager’s mood, sleep, eating or friendships have changed for more than a couple of weeks, whatever their phone use. Phone use is rarely the whole story, and it is often easier to talk about than what sits beneath it. If you or someone you care for feels unable to stay safe, contact your local emergency services or a crisis helpline.
How MyFreud can help
A phone conversation goes better with a record than with an argument. Daily mood tracking in MyFreud shows how days go over a few weeks, and the notepad is somewhere to log sleep, apps and how a day felt side by side. It does not replace a doctor.
Download MyFreud and start today: App Store or Google Play.