How to Have the Best Phone-Free School

These administrator mistakes have the potential to sink a school’s phone-free policy. Here’s how to avoid them.

Now more than ever, teachers and administrators are realizing they need to focus on teaching their students rather than managing rising rates of teen anxiety during the school day; as a result, the phone-free movement has taken off.  A few weeks ago, we discussed WHY going phone-free at school—while not a magic fix—is a critical step toward creating healthier students. That post explored what a phone-free school day truly looks like and highlighted the benefits this approach brings to students—academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. 

This week, we’re diving into HOW schools can do this best.

For nearly a decade, ScreenStrong has been on the front lines, helping schools navigate this shift, and we’ve learned a great deal about what makes a phone-free policy successful. As schools across the country are discovering, this change requires far more than simply adding a new rule to the student handbook. Becoming a truly phone-free school requires creating a new culture. This transformation demands intentionality, thoughtful planning, and consistent effort. 

The ScreenStrong Phone-Free Schools Guide was created to streamline the transition, save time, and empower administrators, students, parents, and staff to fully embrace the lasting benefits of a phone-free school environment.

In this article, we want to help administrators avoid the most common pitfalls we’ve seen when implementing this change. Let’s dive into the biggest mistake first.

Mistake #1: Failing to educate students and parents about WHY the school is adopting a phone-free policy.

It’s easy for a new policy to feel like a punishment to students and parents alike. After all, you are removing phones from students during the school day, and words like “confiscate” and “ban” can rub people the wrong way. 

But the truth is, becoming a phone-free school is the biggest gift schools can give students. It gives them the mental and physical space they need to develop strong social bonds and to feel part of a school community, which are two important antidotes to anxiety and depression. This is why it is so important that administrations don’t just communicate the details of the new policy to teachers, parents, and students but also take the time to educate all stakeholders about the “Why”—the science that led to the decision. This is the basis for all ScreenStrong school resources, including the Kids Brains and Screens curriculum. 

In the complimentary Phone-Free Schools Guide, we also give administrators the necessary tools to effectively communicate these reasons with the school community, including a sample letter to send home to parents, a letter to teachers from a physician, and even a free slide deck to use at a school assembly to explain the science behind your decision to your students.

It is also important to educate the adults, which is why ScreenStrong offers a digital parent/teacher course as well as digital and in-person events. These customizable events are hosted by medical professionals and experts.

ScreenStrong has years of experience in this space, and we also know the value of building school spirit to support meaningful change. That’s why we’ve created a series of vibrant awareness posters to brighten your hallways and make your new phone-free environment engaging and fun.

Here’s a sneak peek of a few of the posters:

In short, taking the time to educate your community about the changes paves the way for stronger support and lasting success. If you want to see and share more posters, you can find them here.

Mistake #2: Not going phone-free for the whole school day.

The second mistake is about trying to compromise in the wrong area. As discussed in our previous Substack, the best phone-free policies remove students’ phones at the beginning of the day and do not return them until the end of the school day. 

Schools that only collect phones during class periods but allow students to have them during passing periods and lunch likely view the policy only as a means to improve academic performance. They are missing the role schools play in shaping our children’s social and relational skills and how allowing phones during the school day gets in the way of this crucial development. This is one of the biggest misses we hear from principals: “It wasn’t until we took phones out of the lunch period that we saw significant improvements.” 

While passing periods may only last a few minutes, these few additional minutes of face-to-face interaction really go a long way. Establishing a phone-free school day is the best way to ensure students will get the greatest benefit of the new policy academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. 

We discuss this approach in-depth in the guide and include a sample policy that administrators can copy, edit, and paste directly into their student handbook. If administrators would rather draft their own policy, our guide provides essential pre-written policy elements that every phone-free policy should include to ensure no detail is overlooked. 

Mistake #3: Not providing a strong enforcement plan.

As anyone who works with kids and teenagers knows, the success of your efforts hinges on the strength of your enforcement plan and the support you receive from your staff.

Administrators must anticipate that the new habit of not reaching for a phone all through the school day will be an adjustment for students. Slip-ups are bound to happen. While administrators should expect slip-ups, they should not ignore them or let students off the hook too easily. An enforcement plan needs to be included in the student handbook right alongside the policy so students and parents know what to expect. 

In our guide, various options are addressed, including confiscation, fines, and detention, and we outline how enforcement efforts need to escalate as the number of violations increases. Our guide also details many affordable methods schools can use to collect and store phones during the day to ensure students do not have access to them. These collection methods will decrease the need for enforcement and ensure student success when adjusting to this new policy and school culture. 

The enforcement plan is like the rules of a game—without clear guidelines, no one can fully enjoy or benefit from the experience.

Bonus Tip: Replacing Phone Habits with Social Activities

In-person social activities are essential for students, and parent involvement plays a big part in the success of a phone-free school. So why not combine these two elements? This is why we have also created the Phone-Free School Champion Guide for parent volunteers. This program empowers and provides instructions to parents to collaborate and plan creative, fun, non-tech social activities that engage students in meaningful ways.

The Phone-Free School Champion Guide serves as a valuable resource for your school community, offering creative ideas and practical steps to foster school connection and strengthen social skills—a primary reason for the new policy. Together, parents can work alongside schools to create an environment where students not only thrive academically but also build lasting friendships and confidence in enjoying face-to-face interactions. Here is a glimpse of what the 14-page Champion Guide includes:

In Summary:

Our Phone-Free Schools Guide is crafted to support every school with the goal of reducing student anxiety, fostering social interaction, and enhancing the academic environment with a new or updated phone-free policy. Here's what you'll find inside:

• Compelling Stats & Benefits: Clear data to back up the importance of becoming a phone-free school.

• Complete Policy Samples: Ready-to-use templates for crafting an effective phone-free policy.

• Community Education Resources: Tools to inform and unite parents, teachers, and students.

• Customizable Letters: Pre-written communication for teachers and parents to encourage buy-in.

• FAQs: Answers to common questions to help ease the transition.

• School Assembly Slide Deck: Engaging slides with talking points to introduce the policy.

• Awareness Posters: Inspiring visuals for elementary, middle, and high school hallways.

• Curriculum Information: Details about the Kids’ Brains & Screens Curriculum and Textbook to support ongoing education.

Our Phone-Free School Champions instruction guide contains practical instructions and suggestions for social activities, and tips to get started quickly.  

We’ve done our best to anticipate your needs and help your school avoid common pitfalls. If there’s something missing or if you need additional assistance, we’d love to hear from you!

For Parents: If you want to see your school embrace a phone-free environment, forward this Substack to your school administrators or email them the link to download the guide. You can also take on the role of a Phone-Free Champion even if your school isn’t phone-free yet. Every student benefits from increased social time!

For Educators and Administrators: This guide is tailored for you. Keep following this Substack as we’ll continue to share practical tools and insights to support your journey toward becoming a phone-free school.

Our Phone-Free Schools Guide really is the culmination of everything we have learned after nearly a decade of helping families and schools break free from the toxic pull of screens. We have the experience and the resources to save you time and missteps as you create the best plan for your school. This guide is packed with everything you need to make the transition smooth and successful. Together, we can build a school community where students can truly thrive—learning, growing, and connecting without the constant distractions of smartphones. Let’s make this meaningful change happen. Download the guide today and take the first step!

ScreenStrong Resources

Podcast - “6 Mental Health Reasons to Have a Phone-Free School with Dr. Adriana Stacey”

Podcast -  “How Teachers and Parents Can Support Phone-Free Schools with Dr. Adriana Stacey”

Melanie Hempe, BSN, is the founder of ScreenStrong, a nonprofit organization, and the author of the Kids’ Brains and Screens Series for students and parents. She is dedicated to preventing and reversing childhood screen addictions by providing scientific evidence and community for families around the globe. Her educational material is filled with everything she wished she had known before her oldest child suffered from a screen addiction. ScreenStrong has created what every family needs—education and the community—to skip toxic screens through adolescence so teens can reach their full potential.

Visit here for family resource materials and here for our Phone-Free Schools Guide, and visit ScreenStrong.org to learn more and join the community that is saving childhood.