School phone bans are spreading across the United States, and new data shows they are having a measurable effect on when kids use their phones—but not on how much they use them overall. According to anonymized data from Findmykids, a family safety and parental control app, the average U.S. child used their phone for 34.7 minutes a day at school in September 2026, down about 15% from 40.7 minutes a year earlier. Yet total daily phone use stayed almost flat at roughly six hours: 367 minutes in 2025 and 365 minutes in 2026. The study compared U.S. children ages 9 to 18 during the same September week, with 15,152 participants in 2025 and 11,112 in 2026.
The stability in total screen time suggests that restrictions at school may simply shift phone use to other hours rather than reduce it. What changed was the app mix: social media gained 20.6 minutes a day, while games lost 17.5 minutes. This shift could mean that when phones are banned during school hours, kids are reallocating that time to social platforms before or after school, potentially exposing them to different online risks.
“Cutting phone use at school and cutting a child's total screen time are two separate tasks,” said the Analytics Team at Findmykids. “For parents, the better question is when the phone gets used and what for.” The finding underscores a challenge for families and educators: school bans alone may not meaningfully reduce overall screen exposure, and parents may need to focus on the quality and timing of phone use rather than just total hours.
Findmykids offers tools that let parents see how much time their child spends on their phone and which apps they use, then set limits or block distracting and inappropriate apps. Parents can also schedule screen-free periods around times when phone use may be less appropriate, such as before and after school, during homework, or before bedtime. Location-based screen-time insights add another layer of context, showing which apps were used and for how long in different places. Beyond screen-time management, Findmykids provides family location sharing, allowing parents to see where family members are and, for example, know when their child arrives at school or leaves it.
The full study is available on the Findmykids blog. Letem LTD is the developer of Findmykids, a globally recognized family safety and parental control application. Designed to provide parents with peace of mind, Findmykids offers real-time location tracking, app usage monitoring, and SOS features, empowering families to raise kids safely in a digital world. Learn more at https://findmykids.org/.
For parents, the data suggests that school phone bans are not a silver bullet for reducing screen time. Instead, the results point to a need for more nuanced strategies that address when and why children use their phones, not just where. As bans continue to spread, the debate may shift from whether to restrict phones in schools to how families can manage screen time effectively across all hours of the day.
