NEW FROM UNHERD---YES, THE CELLPHONE BANS ARE WORKING BUT SCREENS IN THE CLASSROOM ARE STILL A PROBLEM

John Allen Wooden
May 30 2026 

Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s Office of the Surgeon General and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, separately called for limits on screen-time in schools. The United States Department of Health and Human Services suggested the use of physical text-books and pen-and-paper assignments “whenever possible,” and recommended the exclusion of screens in schools, except in computer labs. Weingarten called for a no-screens policy prior to the third grade, and a ban on “social companion” AI in class (i.e., the kind that could replace teachers) prior to age 16. Such expanded limits are an essential phase two of the already existing cellphone bans, which, despite a small but persistent population of doubters, appear to be working. FOR FULL ACCESS, SUBSCRIBE AT Yes, the cellphone bans are working

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