Education is in the throes of a well-deserved “techlash.” That much is clear. Less clear is whether the public is as fed up as the rush of legislation might suggest.
School cellphone bans are everywhere. At the start of 2026, at least 35 states had adopted statewide limits on phones in school. Most of those policies were “bell-to-bell” bans.
Broader screen bans are now gaining traction. This spring, six states enacted screen time legislation for schools, seeking to limit the time students spend using school-issued Chromebooks, iPads, learning software, and digital tools. Iowa’s bill caps digital instruction at 60 minutes a day in grades K–5; Alabama’s directs school officials to develop guidelines. Similar bills have been introduced in many more states. The restrictions can be clumsy and are dotted with loopholes, but they still amount to a notable shift.
It’s clear enough that Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, is having a moment. There’s been a surge of attention to the negative impact of phones and social media on children’s literacy, mental health, and social well-being. Parent groups trade tips on how to keep kids off phones, and there’s growing interest in device-free classical education. When both teacher unions and Moms for Liberty are taking on Big Tech, it feels like an inflection point.
All of this is in stark contrast to a decade ago, when classroom technology was regarded as an unmitigated good—when each new device was seen as evidence that school leaders were innovative and “future-forward.” Education leaders and “reformers” talked longingly of “one-to-one” devices as the event horizon, insisting that getting a device in the hands of every student was the key to educational transformation.
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