


Banning smartphones in classrooms helps students
The first large-scale randomised control study yields a ringing endorsement
Banning phones in schools has emerged as a rare bipartisan policy across America. As the school year begins, millions of students in 17 states, from New York to Kentucky, will be newly prohibited from taking phones into the classroom, bringing the total to 35 states with such laws or rules. America is no outlier here. Around the world bans on phones are being enacted or proposed in at least 40% of national education systems, with the aim of helping students focus. But whereas political momentum for keeping classrooms phone-free is growing, researchers have noted that scientific evidence for the benefits is thin: a few small-scale studies with differing designs yielded mixed results.
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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Attention deficits”

Five Republican factions jostle for the president’s favour
He has a unique ability to keep them marching in the same direction

The rules for defending democracy under Donald Trump
For his government, invading the Capitol is honourable, but burning the flag goes too far

The dubious legality of killing drug suspects at sea
Donald Trump orders a military strike on alleged “narco-terrorists”
Chicago’s criminals are learning more lucrative tricks
A new scam is becoming common in the city
Donald Trump comes for America’s public universities
But, so far, only those in enemy territory
Trump’s tariffs suffer a legal setback
The appellate court ruling sets up a showdown at the Supreme Court