Elementary school students who own cell phones score lower on reading comprehension tests than classmates who don’t, even when the phones aren’t being used in class, according to a new study from the University of California. Unlike previous studies that focused primarily on in-class distractions, this investigation sought to determine whether the mere presence of a phone—or more precisely, the habits formed by owning one—could alter a child’s ability to process and retain written information.
The research team, led by psychology professor Patricia Greenfield, tracked 106 third- and sixth-graders from culturally and linguistically diverse public schools. Sixty of the children had their own phones; 46 did not. Each child took reading tests under two conditions: with the phone on the desk and with the phone put away. The participants included 55 sixth graders and 51 third graders.
Ownership, not distraction, drove the difference
The results showed almost no difference in test scores based on whether the phone was visible. Instead, the gap appeared between students who owned a phone and those who didn’t. Third- and sixth-graders with phones consistently scored lower on reading comprehension, regardless of age or testing conditions. The lack of variation between the two testing scenarios—phone present versus phone stored away—suggests that the issue isn’t immediate distraction but rather a broader shift in how children engage with information. The researchers noted that the decline in comprehension wasn’t tied to a specific age group, indicating that both younger and older elementary students experienced similar effects.
“We found that there’s no age at which you can give a child a phone that’s better or worse for reading comprehension,” Greenfield said. “It’s just having a phone at all.”
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The study was designed to identify patterns, not prove cause and effect. But the researchers suggest phone ownership may shift how children spend free time. Hours once spent reading books could instead go to texting, gaming, or scrolling social media. Over time, less sustained reading could make it harder to develop the comprehension skills needed to understand increasingly complex material. The hypothesis aligns with existing research on attention spans and cognitive load, which suggests that frequent shifts between short-form digital content and longer, more demanding texts can reduce a child’s capacity for deep focus. Unlike traditional reading, which often requires following a narrative or argument over multiple pages, digital activities like gaming or social media typically involve rapid, fragmented interactions. This contrast may explain why children who spend more time on phones struggle with tasks that demand prolonged concentration, such as comprehending a chapter book or analyzing a passage on a standardized test.
One exception stood out: bilingual children who started texting at younger ages performed better on reading tests than bilingual peers who began texting later. The researchers speculate that texting may provide additional opportunities to practice English vocabulary and communication skills. Over time, less sustained reading could make it harder to develop the comprehension skills needed to understand increasingly complex material.
What parents and schools can consider
The study’s sample was small—just over 100 children from one geographic area—and the authors note that longer-term research is needed. The findings do not necessarily mean parents should panic or immediately ban all cell phone use. The geographic limitation means the findings may not fully capture how phone ownership affects students in rural areas or those with different cultural attitudes toward technology. Additionally, the study did not track the specific types of apps or content children accessed on their phones, leaving open the possibility that certain uses, such as educational games or audiobooks, might not have the same negative effects as social media or video streaming.
The study was published in Behavioral Science, a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on the intersection of human behavior and technology. The publication of these findings adds to a growing body of literature examining how digital devices influence learning, though it remains one of the few to specifically isolate phone ownership as a variable independent of in-class use.
