Elementary school students who own cell phones score lower on reading comprehension tests than classmates without them, even when the devices remain unused during class. A study from the University of California identified this gap.
The work, led by Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at UCLA, showed the difference persisted whether the phone sat on the desk or stayed hidden in a backpack. The issue wasn’t distraction during testing—it was possession of the device itself.
No safe age for a first phone
The team followed 106 children across two grades: 51 third graders and 55 sixth graders. Sixty owned phones; 46 did not. Each child completed reading tests under two setups—one with the phone visible, another with it stored away.
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Results remained consistent in both setups. Scores didn’t drop when the phone was in sight. Instead, the gap appeared between children who owned phones and those who didn’t. This held true for both grade levels.
“There’s no age at which giving a child a phone is better or worse for reading comprehension,” Greenfield said. “It’s simply having a phone.”
The team didn’t establish causation. The study detected a connection, not an explanation. They believe the shift stems from how children spend time outside school. Hours once spent reading may now go to texting, gaming, or scrolling. Over time, this change could reduce the ability to engage with complex material.
Bilingual students bucked the trend
Not every group followed the same pattern. Among bilingual students—those from homes where English wasn’t the main language—earlier texting linked to stronger reading scores. The team suggests texting may provide extra practice with English vocabulary, balancing some of the broader decline.
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The sample size was small, covering just over 100 children in one area. Greenfield and her colleague, postgraduate research assistant Merola Hanna, noted that longer-term studies are needed to determine whether phones directly affect reading development or if other factors contribute.
The findings add evidence to a long-standing debate among parents and schools about the right time to give a child a phone. Bans during class may reduce disruptions, but the study points to a larger concern: what happens outside school. A phone in a backpack during math may matter less than the hours spent on it at home.
For now, the takeaway is clear. The issue isn’t just what students do with phones in class—it’s what they stop doing when they have one.
