If you treat adolescents in Maryland, or have a child in school yourself, you’re probably already in the know on the following: Phone-free schools are no longer a talking point.
They’re a daily reality for a growing share of Maryland students, and the ripple effects are landing in your caseload. But this isn’t a piece about whether phone-free schools are good policy; that debate belongs to school boards. Our lane is what clinicians are seeing when a familiar coping tool gets pulled out of a student’s hands for seven hours a day, and how to work with it.
The Policy Landscape in Maryland
Maryland recently passed a law requiring public school systems to adopt “bell-to-bell” cell phone restrictions, with full implementation required by the 2027-28 school year. Districts have flexibility in how they get there. Storage methods, consequences, and age-based rules are all left to local boards, with required exceptions for documented disabilities, health needs, and emergency contact.
Some districts aren’t waiting. Baltimore City rolled out a “powered-off, put-away policy” starting with the 2025-26 school year, following a pilot program in 25 schools the previous year. Howard County restrictions go back even further, with the county implementing its own ban in March 2025 that’s still in effect. Other counties are still drafting their approach.
Why Are Schools Moving Toward Phone-Free Policies?
Teachers across the country report that smartphones have become one of the most significant distractions in the classroom. Notifications, text messages, social media, videos, and gaming compete directly with instruction and student engagement.
Research has shown that excessive phone use can impact:
- Academic performance
- Attention and concentration
- Sleep quality
- Social interaction skills
- Mental health and emotional well-being
Educators are increasingly observing that students often struggle to remain present in the classroom when phones and social media are readily available.
What Experts Are Suggesting
Educational and mental health experts generally recommend creating school environments where students can:
Focus on Learning
Without constant notifications and social media updates, students are more likely to engage in classroom discussions, complete assignments, and retain information.
Strengthen Social Skills
Phone-free schools encourage face-to-face conversations during lunch, class transitions, and extracurricular activities. Students have more opportunities to develop communication, conflict resolution, and relationship-building skills.
Improve Mental Health
Many experts cite concerns regarding social media’s impact on anxiety, depression, body image, cyberbullying, and self-esteem. Those concerns sit at the center of the broader conversation about social media and adolescent mental health, and reducing access during the school day provides students with a structured break from the pressures of constant online connectivity.
Enhance School Safety
When students are focused on adults providing guidance during emergencies, schools can communicate more effectively and reduce the spread of misinformation through social media posts and text messages.
Beyond Cell Phones: Smartwatches and Social Media
Many schools are recognizing that smartwatches can present the same challenges as smartphones. Students can receive texts, social media notifications, calls, and internet alerts directly on their wrists.
As a result, some school systems are considering or implementing policies that:
- Require phones to remain off and stored during instructional time
- Restrict smartwatch use during classes and testing
- Limit access to social media platforms on school devices and networks
- Establish designated times and locations where devices may be used
The Mental Health Perspective
As behavioral health professionals, we know that healthy development depends on meaningful connection. Students need opportunities to interact with peers, build friendships, navigate disagreements, and develop confidence in real-world settings.
While technology offers tremendous benefits, experts increasingly suggest that young people benefit from “technology-free spaces,” where they can practice these essential life skills without the constant pull of screens and social media.
A phone-free school day is not about punishment or restriction. It is about creating an environment where students can:
- Be fully present
- Engage in learning
- Strengthen relationships
- Reduce distractions
- Support their mental well-being
Students’ Perspectives on Limiting Phone Use
For many teens, limiting phone use during school brings mixed feelings. Many want access to their phones to communicate with their parents, to do research, and to check in with their families. Others quietly welcome the break from the constant pull of notifications. Recognizing both reactions helps you meet each client where they are, rather than assuming the restriction lands the same way for everyone.
Read our blog on the broader impact of social media on adolescent mental health.
What to Assess
Not every rough week requires a diagnosis. Distinguishing adjustment distress from an escalating anxiety presentation matters, and it starts with a clear read on function and duration. Consider adding these questions and considerations to intake or check-ins during this transition:
- How is the client sleeping and eating on school nights versus weekends, since disrupted routines often show up here first?
- Are symptoms improving as the semester goes on, or holding steady past the first few weeks?
- Screen for teen phone addiction and functional impairment without pathologizing normal use. A teen who misses their phone isn’t the same as a teen who can’t function without it.
- What specific situations trigger distress: unstructured time, lunch, a particular class, or the phone restriction itself?
This is also a natural moment to talk with clients about helping teens with anxiety build tolerance for unstructured time, since that skill outlasts any single school policy.
Intervention Approaches That Fit the Moment
The school day is now, for many clients, a built-in exposure environment you didn’t have to design. That’s worth using:
- Adapt exposure and coping-skill work to the hours a client is phone-free, rather than treating it as an abstract exercise.
- Build off-phone regulation strategies clients can practice in session: grounding techniques, brief mindfulness, or a scripted self-talk routine for transition moments.
- Practice social scripts for lunch, hallways, and group work, since these are often where avoidance was previously routed through a screen.
These are the same techniques you’d reach for when helping teens with anxiety build tolerance in any unstructured setting. The school day just hands you a built-in place to practice them.
For clients whose anxiety is documented and interfering with school function, collaboration with school staff on IEP or 504 accommodations is worth revisiting now, not just at the start of the year. Our outpatient and school-based service options include coordination with schools when a client’s plan calls for it.
Working With Parents and the System
Parents are hearing a lot of noise about phone-free schools right now, and some arrive worried that what they’re seeing at home is teen phone addiction rather than ordinary adjustment. Your job isn’t to referee the policy debate; it’s to help caregivers respond to what’s showing up at home. A few things worth coaching include:
- Helping parents separate “my teen is upset about the policy” from “my teen’s anxiety is escalating,” since the response to each looks different.
- Encouraging caregivers to loop in school counselors when a documented condition is involved, rather than assuming the school will connect the dots.
- Pointing families toward consumer-facing resources on social media and adolescent mental health for at-home strategies, so session time stays focused on clinical work rather than the psychoeducation you’ve already covered.
A Timely Opening for Connection
Keep in mind that this transition, while potentially disruptive, is also an opening. More in-person interaction during the school day. Better sleep for students who were scrolling past midnight. More space to build regulation skills that don’t depend on a screen. None of this erases the adjustment bumps, but it’s a real upside worth naming with clients who are struggling with the change.
Phone-free schools are still new enough in Maryland that best practices are being written in real time, by clinicians like you. Our team is seeing this shift across six counties and a full range of service settings, and we’re glad to be part of that conversation. If you’re looking to refer a client or want to know more about the clinicians on our team, here’s where to start.