Are Phone Bans Saving High School?
What happens when schools get serious about phones. PLUS: How a whole country just kicked teens off social media.
Hi Readers!
I’m Christopher Pepper, an award-winning health educator and the co-author of Talk To Your Boys.
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In this edition:
Boys in England To Be Sent To Courses To Tackle Misogyny In Schools
What Happened When My Yale Students Gave Up Their Phones for Four Weeks
How the Phone Ban Saved High School
Millions Of Children And Teens Lose Access To Accounts As Australia’s World-First Social Media Ban Begins
Epithets And Accusations: Probes Into Racism In Schools Stall Under Trump
What 200 Gen Z Women Told Me About Birth Control Should Alarm Every Woman in America
The Best Condoms
Boys in England To Be Sent To Courses To Tackle Misogyny In Schools (BBC)
By Sima Kotecha and Hazel Shearing: Teachers will be given training to spot and tackle misogyny in the classroom, while high-risk pupils could be sent on behavioural courses as part of the government’s long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade.
The plans for schools in England - which focus on preventing the radicalisation of young men - have been unveiled as part of a wider strategy which had been delayed three times.
Teachers will get specialist training around issues such as consent and the dangers of sharing intimate images. READ MORE
From Christopher - WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? The TV miniseries Adolescence had a huge impact in the UK. It seemed to really focus people’s attention on the the effects of “the manosphere” on boys today, and many of them started asking how they can address misogyny in schools. I am interested in learning more about this program, and if it can successfully connect with boys and challenge them without making them feel more alienated.
What Happened When My Yale Students Gave Up Their Phones for Four Weeks (New York Times)
By Colleen Kinder: Since 2014, I’ve led a study-abroad writing course for Yale University in Auvillar, a village in the southwest of France. For many of those years, I’ve experimented with requiring these students to go completely offline for our month together. No texting, no Googling, no posting photos of duck confit on Instagram. Most of my students last summer were born around 2004. They had cellphones in their hands as early as the second grade; by middle school, Instagram and Snapchat dominated their social lives, and TikTok and ChatGPT have defined their college years. You might think enforcing a technology ban gets harder with each passing year.
What I witnessed in the four weeks that followed has convinced me that we owe it to today’s college students to create internet-free spaces, programs, dorms and maybe even entire campuses for students committed to learning with far fewer distractions READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? I read this at the recommendation of USC professor Darby Saxbe, and agree with her that it’s a fascinating read. I like hearing about the lived experiences of students living and working without technology for the first time, and the exploration of ideas for how we could create more spaces like this in people’s lives.
How the Phone Ban Saved High School (New York Magazine Intelligencer)
By Anya Kamenetz: When New York State banned phones in public schools from bell to bell this past September, the goal — according to the ban’s champion, Governor Hochul — was undistracted learning. But within weeks of the Great Phone Lockup, teachers began to notice an incidental (and arguably even more compelling) benefit: The teens were talking to one another as if they were in a Brat Pack movie. Sure, there’s been grumbling and some burner phones and scrolling in the bathroom. At one high school, an entrepreneurial senior even bought a pouch-unlocking magnet on Amazon and tried to charge classmates a dollar per jailbreak. But generally, with phones off-limits, the atmosphere feels different. There’s a pleasant buzz in the lunchroom, chatter in the hallways, and an alphabet of new analog hobbies popping up just about everywhere. “We’ve had a lot more school spirit,” says Rosalmi, a senior at New Heights Academy Charter School in Harlem. “People are more willing to do stuff.” READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? This fits with what I’m seeing in schools that are serious about phone bans - students complain at first, but then quickly figure out other things to do, and almost everyone thinks it ends up making school better.
Millions Of Children And Teens Lose Access To Accounts As Australia’s World-First Social Media Ban Begins (The Guardian)
By Josh Taylor: Australia has enacted a world-first ban on social media for users aged under 16, causing millions of children and teenagers to lose access to their accounts.
Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and TikTok are expected to have taken steps to remove accounts held by users under 16 years of age in Australia, and prevent those teens from registering new accounts.
The ban has garnered worldwide attention, with several nations indicating they will adopt a ban of their own, including Malaysia, Denmark and Norway. The European Union passed a resolution to adopt similar restrictions, while a spokesperson for the British government told Reuters it was “closely monitoring Australia’s approach to age restrictions”. READ NOW
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? Giving social media access to tweens and teens was one kind of social experiment - blocking it is another. This ban has been looming for a long time, and I am fascinated to see how it works in real life.
Epithets And Accusations: Probes Into Racism In Schools Stall Under Trump (Washington Post)
By Meredith Kolodner: The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in 2023 launched investigations into the Lubbock-Cooper school district, after several alleged incidents of racial bullying shocked the community and made national headlines. A year ago, an investigator from that office was planning to visit the area, community members said, and complainants hoped that afterward, the federal government could negotiate a set of protections for students with the Lubbock-Cooper school district.
Then the 2024 presidential election happened — and the visit didn’t. In March, the Trump administration closed seven of the Education Department’s 12 regional civil rights enforcement offices, including the one in Dallas, which had been investigating complaints about Lubbock. Emails from the lawyer representing the families to the federal investigator bounced back — like hundreds of other OCR employees, she had been terminated. READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? People should be able to go to school and work without facing bullying, taunts, or discrimination. If schools aren’t taking these things seriously, there needs to be a place to turn. Until recently, the best place was usually the Office of Civil Rights, but it seems like those calls are now going unanswered.
What 200 Gen Z Women Told Me About Birth Control Should Alarm Every Woman in America (Mr. Magazine)
By Haley Lickstein: Birth control is the single most powerful tool for women’s economic mobility and autonomy in modern history.
It changed everything: When women could plan if, when and with whom they wanted to have children, college enrollment soared, dropout rates fell and poverty rates declined. The ability to access contraception has been directly tied to women’s ability to stay in school, build careers and make decisions about their own futures.
So why, in 2025, are we finding ourselves in a messaging war on birth control? READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? Young people deserve unbiased, factual information about how pregnancy works and what they can do to reduce the risk of an unplanned pregnancy. That’s part of why I advocate for health education in schools. As this story spells out, there is a LOT of misinformation reaching young people today, and it’s having some big effects.
The Best Condoms (Wirecutter)
By Bianca Alba: After 65 hours of research, including considering more than 100 top-rated, best-selling condoms and interviewing 10 experts, as well as having more than a dozen testers and their partners — a mix of men, women, and nonbinary people — help us evaluate condom fit and feel over the years, we’ve determined that the LifeStyles Skyn Supreme Feel is the best non-latex condom. It’s made from an ultra-sheer synthetic rubber that feels softer and more skinlike than other materials. And it’s available in a variety of sizes, increasing the odds that you’ll find an ideal fit.
Among latex condoms, the One Flex is the best. It is thinner and has less odor than competitors that typically cost the same or more.
We’ve also identified the best slim-fit and generous-fit options, made with and without latex, and we recommend considering a custom-fit latex condom. READ MORE
WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS STORY? I think parents and teachers need to be talking to young people about condoms, which are a great tool for preventing STIs and pregnancy. Too often, though, adults don’t know that much about the modern condoms available today,. This article has excellent recommendations, and is an great resource for anyone complaining about condoms not fitting right or feeling comfortable. Just like gloves and shoes, condoms come in different sizes and finding the right fit is important!
Recent Teen Health Today Highlights
How Andrew Tate, Accused Of Rape and Trafficking, Was Freed
An investigation of who is helping the Manosphere star. PLUS: Body image worries related to ‘Wicked: For Good’
How To Reach Lonely, Anxious Teens
Expert advice from Lisa Damour, Sema Sgaier, and me
How To Talk About Masculinity And School
Three excellent videos explore how schools deal (or don’t deal) with boys
Sex Ed In America: From Terrific to Terrible
In some states, students learn about consent and healthy relationships. In others, they get “Baby Olivia.”