Smartphones are disappearing from schools worldwide. Sometimes completely, sometimes partially. According to UNESCO, many education systems have, in recent years, decided to limit or ban their use. This is also becoming a reality closer to home, in Flanders and the Netherlands.

Various reasons are cited. In France, the original aim was to protect teachers’ privacy. From an educational perspective, the idea behind a ban is also familiar: less distraction, more attention, and hopefully better learning outcomes. But every measure has pros and cons, and these do not only play out at the level of teaching and learning. So it is worth looking beyond a purely educational perspective.

A recent article does exactly that, examining smartphone bans from a clinical and developmental perspective. In other words, what do these measures do to young people themselves, in their day-to-day functioning?

There is, of course, research showing small positive effects of smartphone restrictions. Slightly less problematic use, sometimes a modest improvement in well-being. But these effects are neither large nor consistent, despite what some might hope.

What Parikh and colleagues mainly highlight is something else: a smartphone ban changes the environment in which young people function. During adolescence, sensitivity to social signals increases. Who is looking at whom, who reacts to whom, who belongs. Social media amplifies this through constant feedback and comparison. Removing smartphones takes away part of that dynamic. For some students, that is a relief: less noise, less pressure, less distraction.

But that is only half the story.

For other students, the smartphone serves a different function. It helps them stay connected. It acts as a buffer when face-to-face interaction is more difficult. Previous research shows, for example, that digital channels can lower the threshold for seeking help. For these students, the smartphone is also something predictable in an environment that is not always so.

And that means a smartphone ban changes the school day in a different way. Breaks feel different. Less escape, more direct interaction. For some, this leads to greater engagement. For others, it increases tension. What helps one student may make things slightly harder for another. This is also how researchers frame it: the same measure can be both stabilising and destabilising, depending on the student.

Another point that is often overlooked: use does not necessarily disappear. It shifts. Less during the school day, more afterwards. With possible consequences for sleep or family life. So you are not necessarily solving the problem. You are redistributing it.

This is not just about distraction or attention. It is about how young people structure their day, how they deal with social pressure, and what role digital tools play in that.

One could argue that this was also the case before smartphones and social media, and that we are now seeing a form of correction. But that raises a different question. Have these technologies also provided something that worked for some students? And are we now removing that, for good reasons, but perhaps without putting anything in its place?

This is not a plea against smartphone bans. In many schools, they can help create calm and focus, and for some students, they clearly make the school day easier. But the idea that such a measure works in the same way for everyone is not quite right. And that is exactly why it matters to also consider the students for whom it plays out differently.