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After new nationwide test scores showed that academic skills of the high school Class of 2024 fell dramatically, observers have been quick to zero in on a likely culprit: digital devices and the distractions they present.

Scores last week on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP test, often called 鈥渢he Nation鈥檚 Report Card,鈥� showed that just 22% of seniors were 鈥減roficient鈥� or above in math, down from 24% in 2019. And just 35% were proficient in reading, down from 37% in 2019. Higher percentages in 2024 also scored in NAEP鈥檚 鈥渂elow basic鈥� level in both subjects.

That has prompted a chorus of protests from experts who believe that, among other problems, digital devices and social media are dragging down U.S. teens. 

Harvard scholar Martin West, who co-leads the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP, said in an the day the scores appeared that emerging evidence of widening achievement gaps in other developed countries suggests that we should be looking at 鈥渇actors that transcend national boundaries.鈥�

The rise of smartphones 鈥� and particularly the advent of social media use among young people 鈥� seems a likely culprit, he said.

鈥淭he timing fits,鈥� West wrote. 鈥淧hones distract students from math homework just as much as they do from reading.鈥� And surveys show that disadvantaged students spend the most time on their devices, 鈥渨hile motivated students of all backgrounds may be able to use them to enhance their learning.鈥� He noted that disadvantaged students saw the biggest score drops.

While there鈥檚 no definitive causal link between smartphones and learning, West said, the circumstantial evidence is 鈥渟ufficiently strong鈥� to justify experimenting with all-day 鈥渂ell-to-bell鈥� phone bans in schools, as well as continued efforts to 鈥渞ein in students鈥� near-constant use of other digital devices while in class.鈥�

A 2024 found that about one in three teachers consider students distracted by cell phones 鈥渁 major problem.鈥� Among high school teachers, that figure rises sharply, to 72%. More recently, Pew researchers 74% of U.S. adults say they would support banning cellphones during class for middle and high school students, up from 68% last fall. 

Much of that momentum grows from years of efforts by the psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who has pushed for schools to . Haidt, author of the mega-bestseller , says there鈥檚 growing evidence of an 鈥渋nternational epidemic鈥� of mental illness that started around 2012, caused in part by social media and teens鈥� uptake of smartphones in the early 2010s. 

鈥淢any parents now see the addiction and distraction these devices cause in their children; most of us have heard harrowing stories of self-harming behavior and suicide attempts among our friends鈥� children,鈥� Haidt wrote in 2023, weeks after the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warning that social media use in particular can carry 鈥渁 profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.鈥�

Murthy said there wasn鈥檛 enough evidence to determine if social media use 鈥渋s sufficiently safe鈥� for young people, especially during adolescence, 鈥渁 particularly vulnerable period of brain development.鈥� While the evidence suggests that social media could put kids鈥� mental health and well-being at risk, he admitted that more research is needed to fully understand its impact.

To San Diego State University professor and psychologist Jean Twenge, the new NAEP scores 鈥渁re yet another indication that academic performance is suffering and we need to do something.鈥�

The academic declines predate the COVID pandemic, she said, reaching back to the early 2010s, just as smartphones became popular 鈥� Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. 鈥淪o yes, teens having access to their phones during the school day could certainly be one of the causes of the declines in test scores,鈥� she said in an email.

Twenge, author of the new book , said bell-to-bell phone bans 鈥渁re one obvious and usually low-cost solution.鈥� That idea, she said, 鈥渉as only started to catch on in the last year, so we don’t yet know what impact it’s having.鈥� She noted that it鈥檚 not even clear how many schools have adopted them, but theorized that they鈥檒l make a difference.

鈥淲hen the phone is available, it’s just too tempting for students to look at it,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen rules are only classroom-by-classroom, many teachers allow students to use their phones after they’ve completed their work. What teenager wouldn’t rush through their work to get on their phone? It’s setting them up to fail.鈥�

鈥楾he research is not strong, but public opinion is鈥�

Research on the topic and related issues is beginning to emerge, but doubts about its utility leave a few researchers skeptical.

Writing in Education Next last week, University of Virginia cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham noted that more screen time is with poor attention regulation, for instance. Most studies, he said, support the hypothesis that children鈥檚 screen time is associated with poorer attentional control, but the size of the observed relationship, on average, is small.

He warned that educators should keep in mind the context of kids鈥� digital device use, such as the notion that more screen time could coincide with particular styles of parenting that could also affect kids鈥� abilities. 鈥淧arents may allow their child more access to screens in an effort to improve their child鈥檚 mood or behavior,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淥r screen activities may keep the child occupied so parents have time for their own pursuits.鈥�

And of course wealthy families may have easier access to pastimes that aren鈥檛 screen-based. 鈥淚n each case,鈥� Willingham said, 鈥渋t may be elements of the context that have the critical effect on attention, not digital activities per se.鈥�

In one 2024 study, University of Delaware researchers from 1,459 middle schoolers, ages 11 to 15, finding that their academic achievement decreased as their self-reported use of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and X increased. Controlling for age, gender, race and ethnicity, they found that participants鈥� grades dropped as the frequency of their social media use across all four platforms rose.

By contrast, a by Chinese researchers found that medical students who used social media platforms like WeChat to discuss their work did better and were more engaged in discussions. 

Marilyn Campbell, a professor in the school of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Australia鈥檚 , cautioned that current peer-reviewed research hasn鈥檛 found an airtight causal connection between mobile phone use and students鈥� academic performance, their mental health or even the likelihood of being cyberbullied. 

鈥淭he research is not strong, but public opinion is,鈥� she said. 鈥淧ublic opinion is driving this, or else why would politicians get involved?鈥�  

Australia has had a near-total cell phone ban in public schools since 2023, and lawmakers have sung its praises: In South Australia, where the ban didn鈥檛 take effect until 2024, showed a 63% decline in “critical incidents involving social media” in the first six months, with behavioral issues down 54% and violent incidents down 10%. But Campbell has noted that there鈥檚 little reliable research on academics, mental health and the like.

Banning phones in school makes a kind of logical sense to many people, she said, because there鈥檚 a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting it. But she said it鈥檚 often a false connection. Campbell compared it to watching summer ice cream sales rise and concluding that it鈥檚 ice cream that makes sunglasses fly off the shelves. 

In a of 22 research studies from 12 countries, Campbell and several colleagues found 鈥渓ittle to no conclusive evidence鈥� that broad mobile phone bans in schools produce better academics or mental health, or that they reduce cyberbullying. 

Conversely, she said, it鈥檚 not entirely clear if banning cell phones in school could have unintended harmful consequences, such as parents finding it more difficult to get kids to do homework or to put away their phones at home 鈥渂ecause they’ve got to catch up on all their social media that they haven’t been able to during the break times,鈥� Campbell said.

She also said it鈥檚 possible that students in schools with phone bans are staying up later with their phones and missing sleep, which would also have a negative effect on academics.

Campbell also said broad bans leave young people with less practice self-regulating their device use. 鈥淜ids leave our schools when they’re 18,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’re adults, they’re going to university, and they have had no training [or] practical experience of saying, 鈥業 really want to look at my phone, but I know it’s rude or it’s the wrong thing to do, and I’m going to control myself and not do this.鈥� They’ve had none of that experience when they go to work, when they go to further education.鈥�

And in a few cases, she said, bans on devices can hurt poor kids. She recalled a school in Australia with a lot of kids from low-income families whose principal said many students have phones, but few can afford data plans. The principal, she said, encouraged kids to bring their phones to school so they could take advantage of the school’s Wi Fi. 

鈥淗e said, 鈥業f I can get them to school, I can keep them safe. They’re not wandering around the malls and getting in trouble. I can feed them, and hopefully they might learn something.鈥欌��

Tom Kane, an economist and education professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said the next year or so will be key as scholars push to study U.S. school cell phone bans already in place for evidence that they鈥檝e made a difference. 鈥淭hat’s central to this question of what’s been driving the loss in achievement,鈥� he said.

While such bans can鈥檛 address all of the conditions making achievement suffer, he said, they can eliminate distractions during the school day. He just hopes the findings see the light of day sooner rather than later, with a scientific consensus emerging over the next year or two.

鈥淲e can’t wait a decade to figure out what was the effect of these cell phone bans,鈥� he said. 

Harvard鈥檚 West, who also serves on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said policymakers also need to consider higher, clearer standards for students and ways to hold schools accountable for ensuring kids meet state standards 鈥� he noted that, for all the derision No Child Left Behind generated, 鈥渋t produced results鈥� such as steadily rising levels of achievement, driven by large gains for the nation鈥檚 lowest-performers 鈥� the opposite of what we鈥檙e seeing now.

West鈥檚 two sons have phones, and he admitted that he takes comfort 鈥渋n being able to reach my boys as needed.鈥� But he also appreciates experts鈥� calls to put phones away. 鈥淐oupled with greater accountability around student achievement, it may be the single most important thing we can do to help our kids learn,鈥� he wrote.

While the evidence for phone bans improving academics might take years, one teacher said he鈥檚 seeing results already, in a matter of weeks. 

Blake Harvard, an AP high school psychology teacher in Madison, Ala., a suburb of Huntsville, said Alabama鈥檚 , enacted in May, is already having an effect since school began in early August. 鈥淚’m getting more from my students than I did鈥� last year, he said. 鈥淣ow, of course, that’s anecdotal, but I sincerely think discussions are better. I’m getting more student participation from [students] in the past who may have been trying to sneak a cell phone.鈥�

Harvard, the author of a recent book on the psychology of student attention, said he and his colleagues initially worried that students wouldn鈥檛 put up with a ban. 鈥淏ut they’ve been fine about it, honestly,鈥� he said. 鈥淰ery quickly, everyone was just like, 鈥榃ell, O.K., this is the way it is.鈥欌��

Harvard makes sure he talks to classes each fall about the brain science behind attention, such as how multitasking is a myth. 鈥淵ou can’t consciously pay attention to two things at once,鈥� he said. 

Looking at one鈥檚 social media notifications while driving is dangerous. Likewise, he said, 鈥淚f you’re looking at all your notifications in class, that’s getting your attention. So the lesson itself can’t get your attention.鈥�

Just a few weeks into the semester, Harvard said his students have already figured out that while the law says they can鈥檛 have a phone 鈥渙n their person鈥� during the school day, they can keep it stowed in a backpack on the floor 鈥� the school doesn鈥檛 have lockers. As he was walking among desks the other day, he noticed a phone visible in a student鈥檚 open backpack. He joked that he might have to write her up, to which she replied, 鈥淚t’s not 鈥榦n my person.鈥欌�� 

Harvard thought to himself, 鈥淲ell, if students didn’t know what 鈥榦n my person鈥� meant before this, in legal parlance, they know what it means now. They figured it out quickly.鈥�

Disclosures: The Future of High School Network and 社区黑料 both receive financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, XQ and the Walton Family Foundation.

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