A Dutch government-commissioned study of 317 high schools found that smartphone bans implemented since January 2024 have significantly improved student concentration, with three-quarters of schools reporting positive effects on focus and attention during lessons.
Nearly two-thirds of surveyed schools observed improvements in social climate as students engage more directly with peers during breaks, while one-third noted better academic performance among their student body.
State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education Marielle Paul praised the results, stating that removing mobile phones from classrooms has created "wonderful positive effects" with less distraction, more lesson attention, and increased social interaction among students.
Dr. Alexander Krepel from the Kohnstamm Instituut explained that students can no longer secretly take photos to share on social media platforms, leading to genuine face-to-face conversations and real connections, even including healthy disagreements that are part of normal social development.
The national guidelines have achieved broad compliance across Dutch schools, with VO-raad school council representative Freya Sixma noting that despite initial protests, both educators and students have embraced the policy change and are "actually pretty happy" with the outcomes.
