Screen Time Task Force

During the 2025-26 school year, the Andover Board of Education has convened a task force to engage our school community to research, analyze and make recommendations related to screen time and cell phone usage in Andover Public Schools.

This task force, which includes teachers, administrators, parents and students, is meeting this fall and expects to have a recommendation for the Board of Education early in 2026.

The task force’s work comes after a statewide Blue Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time made several recommendations, most notably that districts implement a policy for K-12 students to store personal electronic devices in a secure location inaccessible to them during the school day. The task force also made other recommendations, including education on digital citizenship, having students take regular breaks from screens during the school day, and providing resources to help parents oversee home use of district-owned devices.

Below are additional resources regarding students and screen time. Please check back during the school year for updates.

• Away for the Day
• Adolescent Smartphone Use During School Hours
• Americans’ support for school cellphone bans has ticked up since last year
• Here are the states banning cellphones in schools and what it means for student
• Teen Smartphone Tips
• The Anxious Generation
• Stanford Social Media Lab
• Johns Hopkins Ban on Cell Phones
• Smartphones at School: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Educators’ and Students’ Perspectives on Mobile Phone Use at School