Bozeman high schools to go phone-free in an effort to boost student mental health

Bozeman and Gallatin high schools will look noticeably different next year when cell phone use is banned inside and outside the classrooms.

Set to take effect next fall, the ban builds off the Bozeman School District’s current measures, which already limit phone use in classrooms. It expands those restrictions to hallways and the cafeteria as a means of bolstering student mental health, school officials say.

The decision followed a review by a local group comprised of students, teachers, administrators and community health professionals who read “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, which highlights the correlation between smartphones and increased youth anxiety. They then examined the district’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a set of national surveys that track behaviors that can le