In a 37-page document released Tuesday, the department outlined how to form a “co-design” team of youth and adults, and how that team can set policy goals, build understanding, implement the policy, collect feedback and data, and make changes as needed.
“Co-design is based on the theory that if a policy works better for those who are ultimately affected, there will be more support for and fidelity to the policy,” the document states.
It also presents evidence that smartphones and social media hurt student academic performance and mental health. How schools respond to that evidence must be decided at the state and local level, according to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
“Different school communities have different needs, and the nuances of this issue demand that local voices — parents, educators and students — inform local decisions around the use of personal devices in school,” Cardona said in a public statement.
The guidance comes as a wave of cellphone restriction policies sweep through U.S. schools. Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the nation, will implement a bell-to-bell cellphone ban next year, and countless others have issued their own bans and restrictions.
Statewide school cellphone bans have been passed in Florida, Indiana, Louisiana and South Carolina, and a handful of other states have adopted restrictions that fall short of a ban. At least nine other state departments of education have issued policy recommendations or pilot programs, and 11 more states have introduced legislation to restrict cellphone use, according to the independent policy research company KFF. All told, 29 states have taken political action on the issue. In California, the Phone-Free School Act requires all state public schools to limit or ban smartphones by July 2026.
“In this digital age, every elementary, middle and high school should have a clear, consistent, and research-informed policy to guide the use of phones and personal devices in school,” Cardona said in a public statement. “That is why we are issuing a new guide to help support education officials and local communities in developing policies that are understandable and enforceable, and prioritize learning while ensuring student safety.”
