Across the U.S., legislators, educators, parents, and students are taking action against the harm smartphones can inflict on youth mental health, learning, and social development. 

In Indiana and California, laws require districts to establish policies that minimize cell phone use in schools. In Florida, public schools have been required to ban cell phone use during class time and block access to social media on district Wi-Fi since 2023. Arizona’s House Representatives has just sent a similar bill to the Senate; New York state legislators will vote on the issue soon.

With regulations varying state by state—and often, school by school—we convened experts, policymakers, and influencers to share their expertise. Cartwheel CEO Joe English moderated a discussion between Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and NYT bestselling author, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner, and New York City high school student Juliet Weisfogel. 

‍Student Mental Health & Wellbeing in the Smartphone Age 

Cartwheel data from 200-plus districts shows that two of the top reasons families seek mental health care are technology use and social media. That’s in urban schools, rural schools, high income and low income, red states and blue. 

“I come home from school, I collapse onto my bed, and I look at TikTok for hours on end. And you know, it doesn't leave me feeling very good after, and it certainly does not allow for much homework to get done,” shared high school student Juliet Weisfogel, who recently published an OpEd supporting a TikTok ban in the New York Times.

Despite receiving backlash online—she should manage her time better, naysayers said—Weisfogel supports restricting smartphone and social media use for teens. “I worry for the future of my generation,” she said. “Addiction is real. We are so attached to [our phones].”

While researching his bestselling book The Anxious Generation, Jonothan Haidt saw a clear line between a decline in youth mental health and the invention of the smartphone. “What we have is the collapse, not just of mental health, but also of education, which began around 2012,” Haidt shared. When kids started paying attention to their phones, they stopped paying attention to the world around them. “We need to focus on what happened when kids stopped paying attention to other people that they were with,” shared Haidt.

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul stated, “We need to have mental health services in our schools. I wouldn't have thought this for my generation. But we need to help these young people overcome the [social media] addiction, start learning coping skills, learn how to treat each other as human beings…this is your future workforce…and we want them to be creative and to be able to solve problems and do all the high functioning things we expect when someone leaves as an 18-year-old instead of being someone whose growth has been stunted.”

‍Support for Top-Down Solutions 

Hochul held round tables with teens to better understand social media's impact on their mental well-being and the role of smartphones in schools. “They all said, ‘We can't stop ourselves,’” Hochul shared.

Determined that today’s kids will be the last generation addicted to social media, Hochul has unveiled legislation to limit the use of cell phones in K–12 schools, which follows a 2024 law requiring social media companies to restrict addictive algorithmic feeds for users under 18. 

There’s a direct correlation between targeted social media algorithms and the decline of mental health, Hochul said. “I want [students] to be liberated, at least from bell to bell—as soon as they arrive at that school at the end of the day, and not just during instruction time, because I want kids to talk to each other during lunch and recess,” she said. 

Schools across Indiana have been subject to similar legislation over the past year. Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, shared that districts are implementing policies in various ways. Some schools require kids to put their phones in locked pouches, others can keep them in their backpacks. 

Overall, Dr. Jenner said, teachers are pleased it’s the law because it stops kids from blaming them. “It’s not easy, day after day, to take students' cell phones. [Schools have] expressed the value of the state giving them some cover.”

Haidt is encouraged, “Everybody sees the problem. Republicans, Democrats. So it's been exciting to be part of this bipartisan movement to restore an amazing childhood.”

‍Balancing Safety and Distraction

“I would say we had some pushback … saying that the government was overreaching a bit, but our parents have really come around significantly to say, ‘Thank you. We see the benefit,’” Dr. Jenner shared. One of the biggest challenges is reassuring parents that their kids would be safe in a crisis, particularly if there was a school shooting. 

“The principals hate the phones. The teachers all hate the phones. When kids have TikTok, TikTok is always going to be more interesting than the teacher, so everyone hates the phones,” Haidt shared. So why haven’t they been banned everywhere? Because parents want to be able to contact their children every minute of the day. 

“All the security experts say, if there's an emergency, the last thing you want is for every kid to be on their phone. What you want is for every kid to do what they were trained to do, do what they drilled to do. Be quiet, pay attention, follow directions,” Haidt said. “As educators and as parents, we have to do what's best for the kids, not what's best for us.” 

‍Testing the Boundaries of Tech

Haidt would love to see a uniform ban for all interactive devices on campus. If he had his way, there would be no smart phones until high school and no social media for kids under 16. 

It’s a hardline approach that his fellow panellists appreciated, but conceded wasn’t entirely practical. “What we're trying to do in New York, and we will do in New York, is a completely distraction-free environment,” Hochul said. That means no smart watches, no phone, no earbuds. “By next fall I want young people to be liberated from these addictive devices.”

In Indiana, TikTok is out, but AI is in. “We know that artificial intelligence is here, and we're thinking through how we might best leverage it for the good,” shared Dr. Jenner, who recently launched an artificial intelligence pilot program involving 112 schools across 36 districts. 

In response, Haidt expressed his concerns. “I’m very, very concerned that AI companions are going to become very common for kids. AI to help a teacher handle various things? I'm very open to that. What I’m really focused on is the student experience in class. They need to struggle. They need to overcome challenges. AI is going to make things too easy.” 

‍The Key to Phone-Free Schools? Conversation & Collaboration 

Our panelists agreed that “saving childhood” means kids need to live in the real world, not on their phones. But legislation is only part of an equation that depends on buy-in from parents and students. 

“Conversation is really important when it comes to what happens within the school day, what happens with social media, with our young people,” Dr. Jenner shared, because change starts at home. “Children are great imitators. My own kids call me out frequently like, Mom, put your phone down!” 

While talking to superintendents and principals, Haidt heard repeatedly how important it is to listen to parents. Hold an information session, he advises, so they can air their concerns about phone-free policies and know who to contact in an emergency. 

Invite students to that meeting too, Weisfogel said. “I think having us as part of the conversation is what's most important. If we feel left out, if we feel like our phones are just being taken away from us, and we don't know why…that's not going to work as well. I think we're just going to want them back even more.” 

If phone-free schools are a uniform policy, Hochul says, “we’ll see a totally different class of young people emerging—more high functioning, more well-adjusted, less mental health problems, and actually graduating with friends.” 

Haidt said that in his conversations with school staff and teachers they share that without cell phones in their schools drama is down, bullying is down, tardiness is down, absenteeism is down. They told him, “We hear laughter in the hallways again. We haven't heard much laughter in 15 years.”