DoD Schools Ban Phones All Day
PHOTO CAPTION: Parents and students arrive at Sullivans Elementary School at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on Aug. 17, 2026, as Defense Department schools began the 2026-27 academic year under new restrictions on student phones and smartwatches.
About 66,000 military-connected students are starting the new school year under a Defense Department policy requiring phones, smartwatches and other personal electronic devices to remain off and stored throughout the entire school day.
The restriction took effect as students returned to roughly 160 Defense Department schools around the world this week, including schools serving military families in 11 foreign countries.
Under the policy, personal electronic devices must be powered off or silenced and securely stored from the time students arrive until dismissal.
The restriction covers smartphones and other cellphones as well as smartwatches, tablets, Bluetooth-enabled devices and internet-capable gaming systems.
That means students cannot simply keep a smartwatch active on their wrist or check their phones between classes.
The Defense Department school system announced the policy in May, saying the goal was to reduce distractions and keep students focused on education. Schools spent the summer notifying military families before the new rules took effect for the 2026-27 academic year.
For many families, Monday was the first time the policy became part of the normal school day.
At Camp Humphreys in South Korea, Navy veteran Hunter Lee told Stars and Stripes he supports the restriction for his 11-year-old son, arguing that devices not specifically needed for classroom instruction interfere with learning and student engagement.
His son, Markus, said students may complain initially but that being able to check notifications after the final bell should make the adjustment manageable.
At Kaiserslautern High School in Germany, students were seen using their phones outside before classes began, but Stars and Stripes reported that no phones were visible during a roughly 20-minute school assembly after the day started.
The policy arrives amid a broader national debate over how much access students should have to smartphones during school.
For military families, however, that discussion can carry additional considerations. Military-connected students frequently deal with overseas assignments, permanent-change-of-station moves, deployments and parents whose jobs can make family communication unusually complicated.
Supporters of the new policy argue that none of those circumstances require students to have constant access to phones during class and that schools already have established ways to contact parents and students when necessary.
Others may question whether completely restricting access through the entire school day goes too far, particularly for older students accustomed to communicating directly with their families.
The rule applies to far more than classroom instruction. Devices are required to remain stored through the school day rather than becoming available during passing periods or other routine breaks.
The Defense Department school system says removing the devices is intended to reduce distractions and put students' attention back on teachers, classmates and schoolwork.
For tens of thousands of military kids, that experiment is now underway.
(Source: OAF Nation)
