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Getting older is something many of us fear, but life doesn’t end at retirement. Old age is a privilege, and finding joy in your later years is possible, especially when you start adjusting your mindset and building healthy habits now.

Eating healthy and physical exercise play a big role in supporting longevity, but emotional well-being matters just as much. Addressing loneliness and staying socially connected are key to not only living longer but truly enjoying those extra years.

California-based gerontologist Dr. Kerry Burnight studies aging from every angle—biological, social, and psychological—and believes there are four key elements to living a happier and healthier life in older age: growing, connecting, adapting, and giving. Her own mom, 96-year-old Betty Parker, sets a great example. She still finds joy in the little things, like baking pies, picking roses from her garden, and playing cards with friends.

John Batsis, a geriatrician and an associate professor at UNC’s School of Medicine and Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has teamed up with Burnight to share four key ways to improve your later years. You can start putting these into practice today to build a healthier, more connected, and more fulfilling future.

Start these 4 easy practices now to set yourself up for a happier future.

Find a hobby outside of work

Once you stop working, how do you imagine spending your days? Batsis says, “The retirement cliff, so to speak, is very difficult for individuals who have been working a lifetime.” His advice is to start exploring hobbies and activities you’d enjoy in retirement while you’re still working. That way, the transition feels more natural.

Whether you want to write a book, start gardening, or learn pottery, it’s never too late to start something new.

Challenge your mind

Crossword puzzles and sudoku are great for keeping your mind active, but to truly stay mentally sharp and get the most out of your later years, it’s important to challenge yourself with activities that really push you. “New experiences activate neuro plasticity…that is our brain’s ability to keep growing,” Burnight explains. “If you do the same things you’ve always done, you’re really not setting yourself up for continued growth.”

Batsis recommends to keep moving and to find a hobby that will keep you physically active. One of his patients took up golf after he retired, but he even started playing the guitar. Batsis says, “Individuals need to find something that is of interest to them, because the more interesting it is to them, the more they’re going to be willing to kind of engage in that type of activity.”

Stay social

Loneliness can be harmful to both physical and mental health, so both Batsis and Burnight urge people to stay socially active. Even small interactions, like talking with a neighbor or your local barista, can help you feel more connected to your community.

Every month, Parker meets up with a group she calls “the youngs” to play canasta—a game she taught them. They’re women in their 60s she got to know through her daughter-in-law, and even though they’re much younger, Parker says having friends of all ages means a lot to her. That’s especially true now, since she’s outlived her husband and many of her longtime friends.

“Like how we diversify our financial portfolio, socially we want to have friends of different ages, friends from your neighborhood, as well as friends from the past,” Burnight explains. “You need to be the one to call to make a plan or to remember a birthday, or to sit by somebody’s hospital bed or to drive them to their chemo.”

Adapt your thinking

Studies show that your mindset about aging can have a powerful influence on how you actually age. “People who believe that aging is a time of continued growth live 7.5 years longer than those who think, ‘Oh, I’m old. I’m going to retire and just go knit with the ladies,’” Burnight says. “The way that you adapt largely is recognizing that it isn’t wrong that you’re going to have tough stuff. It’s how you’re going to respond to that tough stuff.”

Getting physically weaker with age doesn’t mean you have to step back from life. Burnight encourages shifting your focus to helping others. Research shows that giving back can boost your sense of joy, purpose, and even help you live longer. “Purpose is small and daily and a decision,” Burnight says. “It’s saying, ‘Okay, today, how am I going to use the fact that I’m alive and that I have things to give?’”

Source: 96-year-old shares what she does to keep life vibrant. You can start doing it now

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READ: 4 Practices You Can Start Now for a Happier and More Connected Life When You’re Older

Photo: ArturVerkhovetskiy/Depositphotos

If you're someone who needs a cup of coffee to get going in the morning, there's good news. According to a study presented at the annual American Society for Nutrition meeting, getting your caffeine fix can actually help you age better. The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed or published, is the culmination of 30 years of research.

The findings were presented by Dr. Sara Mahdavi, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, and an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto's Department of Nutritional Sciences. The study, which began in the early 1980s, followed nearly 50,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study. The health and dietary data of these 47,513 women was collected for three decades, giving rare insight into the aging process.

Along the way, the women were asked about their caffeine intake, and specifically, how much coffee they were drinking. In 2016, when the women were in their 70s, the researchers identified a smaller group of 3,706 who met the criteria for “healthy aging.” Surprisingly, in this group, the women had typically consumed three small cups of coffee (or one and a half large cups by today’s standards) a day from ages 45 to 60. Of the women in the healthy group, each additional cup of coffee per day improved their health, increasing their chances of doing well later in life by 2% to 5%.

“These results, while preliminary, suggest that small, consistent habits can shape long-term health,” shares Dr. Mahdavi. “Moderate coffee intake may offer some protective benefits when combined with other healthy behaviors such as regular exercise, a healthy diet, and avoiding smoking. While this study adds to prior evidence suggesting coffee intake may be linked with healthy aging, the benefits from coffee are relatively modest compared to the impact of overall healthy lifestyle habits and warrant further investigation.”

Interestingly, the researchers found no strong link between tea or decaffeinated coffee consumption and aging well. And while soda is also a source of caffeine, the data showed that each small glass of soda was associated with a 20% to 26% lower chance of healthy aging.

With this data in mind, researchers will now begin investigating how specific compounds in coffee interact with genetic and metabolic aging markers, particularly in women. Understanding these mechanisms could then unlock a new world of personalized medicine for longevity and cognitive health.

However, if you think this is a good excuse to increase your coffee intake, the researchers caution that, in general, up to two cups of coffee per day should be safe and potentially beneficial for most people. After that, some people might benefit, but others could react poorly. So, moderation is key. Still, when you pour your morning coffee, you can feel good about its long-term effects.

A new study has linked coffee consumption to healthy aging, particularly in women.

Photo: ludinko/Depositphotos

Source: Brewed for longevity: drinking coffee linked with healthy aging in women

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READ: Study Finds Coffee Consumption Linked To Healthy Aging in Women

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It’s a well-established fact that one of the best things you can do for your body is to exercise. Those who perform two to four times above the recommended amount of moderate physical activity, for instance, show a 26% to 31% lower all-cause mortality, and a 28% to 38% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. Exercise has also been proven to alleviate stress and anxiety, both of which frequently cause or contribute to cognitive impairment. A new trial has revealed yet another benefit of exercise: it can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by a third.

Up until now, there has been little evidence of how exercise can impact cancer patients following their diagnoses, despite doctors having long recommended physical activity to lower the risk of developing such life-threatening illnesses. This recent trial, however, reveals that implementing a structured exercise routine during and after treatment can be “better than a drug” at reducing the possibility of dying or relapse. According to the American Society for Clinical Oncology’s (Asco) Chief Medical Officer Dr. Julie Gralow, who was not involved in the study, these groundbreaking findings will lead to a “major shift in understanding the importance of encouraging physical activity during and after treatment.”

The trial served as the first of its kind, tracking 889 patients diagnosed with colon cancer across the U.S., UK, Australia, France, Canada, and Israel between 2009 and 2023. Half of these patients were randomly assigned to participate in an exercise program, whereas the rest received health education materials that promoted physical activity and proper nutrition. The “exercise prescription” also consisted of working closely with a personal trainer on activities such as swimming, circuit training, running, and walking, all in an effort to increase activity levels by 10 “metabolic equivalent task hours” per week.

“What [that] translated to for most people is going on a brisk walk 45 minutes a day, four days per week,” Christopher Booth, a medical oncologist at Queen’s University in Canada and the study’s lead author, told NBC News.

The exercise program lasted for a total of three years, with the first year involving coaching sessions twice a month and, later, only once a month. After five years, 80% of those regularly exercising remained cancer-free, compared with 74% in the control group. In other words, patients who exercised had a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers. After eight years, those same patients also had a 37% lower risk of dying.

“For every 14 patients who went on the exercise program, exercise prevented one person from dying,” Booth told the Times. “Notably, this difference in survival was not driven by difference in cardiovascular deaths, but by a reduction in the risk of death from colon cancer.”

Although the study focused specifically on colon cancer, Booth emphasized that fewer patients in the exercise group developed breast cancer, suggesting that physical activity can impact other types of cancer as well.

“The findings suggest that oncologists should consider recommending a structured exercise program after surgery to improve people’s chances of survival,” Charles Swanton, the chief clinician of Cancer Research UK, told the Guardian. “For an intervention that isn’t a drug, exercise offers remarkable benefits for patients.”

The findings were originally presented on June 1 at Asco’s annual meeting in Chicago, during a session titled “As Good as a Drug.”

“I would have retitled it ‘Better Than a Drug,’” Gralow said, “because you don’t have all the side effects.”

A groundbreaking new study has revealed that patients who underwent a structured exercise routine during and after treatment had a 28% lower risk of recurrent or new cancers, and a 37% lower risk of dying.

Photo: Anupam Mahapatra via Unsplash

Sources: Exercise ‘better than drugs’ to stop cancer returning after treatment, trial finds; Exercise ‘better than drugs’ to stop colon cancer returning; Exercise may benefit colon cancer patients as much as some drugs

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A good night’s sleep is key to our well-being, and recent research reveals that sharing a bed with a loved one may offer additional emotional benefits. Psychologist Josh Novak and cognitive development researcher Kaleigh Miller from Auburn University, in Alabama, found that sleeping beside a partner—particularly in intimate positions—can significantly lower stress levels. Their findings indicate that reduced stress contributes to stronger feelings of attachment and emotional security within the relationship.

The study involved 143 heterosexual couples who share a bed, with men averaging 43 years old and women 40. The couples had been together for around 13 years on average, but one impressive duo had nearly reached their 30th anniversary. To make sure the results were accurate, the researchers took other important factors into account—like whether kids or pets often shared the bed. This helped them focus just on the impact of sleeping positions at the beginning of the night.

Even though each individual in the couples had their own preferred sleeping position, they often prioritized being closer to their partner as they drift off to sleep. The researchers explain, “This finding may suggest that individual sleep position may not be a driver or a factor in how a couple chooses to cuddle at night and rather is driven by a desire or need to be close to one’s partner.”

The study found that when partners slept in closer, more intimate positions—like spooning, intertwining limbs, or facing each other—they benefited from reduced stress and increased emotional connection. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the study has some limitations. It only looked at one moment, right at the start of the night, and relied on what couples said about their experiences, rather than direct observation. We can’t say for sure that cuddling causes people to feel more secure. In fact, the researchers believe it likely works both ways and that feeling secure might also make couples more likely to cuddle.

However, choosing to stay physically close at night doesn’t necessarily guarantee a more restful sleep. The researchers suggest, “Perhaps intimate positions are disruptive of sleep because sustaining long cuddling positions may be uncomfortable, may increase body temperature, one or both partners have sleep problems or disorders, or a myriad of other reasons.”

The researchers concluded something many of us probably already know from experience—a quick cuddle as you’re drifting off might be all it takes to get those emotional benefits, even if you both roll over into your usual sleeping spots afterward.

If you don’t have a significant other to sleep beside, there are plenty of other ways to reduce stress and improve your health. Petting a dog, for example, can give us the same benefits of socializing with humans, and a simple walk in nature can do wonders for our stress levels.

Find out more about the study by Novak and Miller on Sage Journals.

Source: “Cuddle buddies”: Couples sleep position closeness at onset is indirectly related to lower insecure attachment through lower couple perceived stress

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According to the Red Cross, someone in the United States needs blood or platelets every two seconds. Looking at the global picture, the World Health Organization says that 40% of blood donations are collected in high-income countries, where only 16 % of the world’s population lives. With these challenges in mind, a team of Japanese scientists have created artificial blood, potentially changing the landscape of blood transfusions in the future.

Led by Hiromi Sakai at Nara Medical University, the team developed an artificial blood that can be used for any patient. It is created by extracting hemoglobin—the protein that is responsible for the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells—from expired donor blood. The hemoglobin is then encased in a protective lipid shell, resulting in artificial red blood cells known as hemoglobin vesicles, which can carry oxygen to the tissues efficiently like regular blood does.

Since these cells don't have blood type markers, the artificial blood can be administered to anyone regardless of their blood type. Should it become widely available, it would alleviate the demand for O-negative blood, known as the universal donor type. It also has a shelf life of up to two years at room temperature and five years under refrigeration—a striking difference with the 42-day lifespan of donated blood. Additionally, it would make a great alternative in disaster zones and areas with limited resources and access.

Following an early-stage trial in 2022 of hemoglobin vesicles, a clinical trial was launched in March. During the studies, 100 to 400 milliliters of the artificial blood cells were administered to 16 healthy volunteers. No side effects have been reported from the latest study, so the trial may move on to studying the artificial blood ’s efficacy and safety. For all its promise, some specialists are skeptical about how widespread it can become as the reliance on human blood may restrict the scale of its production.

Meanwhile, Professor Teruyuki Komatsu of Chuo University's Faculty of Science and Engineering has taken a different approach to developing artificial blood. Rather than enclosing it in a lipid shell, Komatsu has wrapped it in a protein called albumin. Similarly free of blood types and viruses, this oxygen carrier has been tested in animal experiments, where Komatsu has confirmed the artificial blood's effectiveness in stabilizing blood pressure during hemorrhages and helping treat strokes.

Newsweek reports that Sakai's lab shared that his team's creation could reduce common problems such as “possibility of infection, blood type mismatching, immunological response, and short shelf life which is insufficient for stockpiling for emergency situations.” Should everything go according to plan, Sakai and his team expect the blood to hopefully go into clinical use by 2030.

Sources: Facts About Blood Needs; Blood safety and availability; Japanese Scientists Develop Artificial Blood Compatible With All Blood Types; Artificial Blood That Could Work for All Blood Types in Trials; Creating Artificial Blood to Save Lives

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The debate about whether showering in the morning or at night is better can be really contentious. It can go beyond a personal preference or even its benefits, and turn into a question of who is doing it right, or at least better. As with all topics related to health and hygiene, it's always a good idea to turn to science for answers.

Primrose Freestone, a senior lecturer in clinical microbiology from the University of Leicester, offered an insightful take based on how our body works on a microscopic level. For her, this is not a debate about starting the day fresh and wide awake versus relaxing and “washing the day away,” but rather a matter of better understanding the bacteria that lives on our skin and around it.

Freestone explains that while sweat has long been seen as the main culprit in producing body odor, it is actually odorless. Instead, the actual guilty party is a bacteria known as staphylococci, which lives on our skin and feeds on sweat. When these organisms break it down, it creates a compound called thioalcohols, which contains sulphur and produces the bad smell. Additionally, there are also the pollutants our skin picks up throughout the day, coexisting with the sebaceous oils our skin microbiome feeds on.

Surely, if you shower at night, you can get rid of all this dirt before going to bed. But just because you're done for the day doesn't mean everything else going on in your body has closed up shop too. You're also sweating and shedding skin in your slumber, which means the bacteria have continued to feast on your dead skin cells, plus you may be picking up whatever microbes are deposited on your bed sheets.

That's why Freestone is a fierce advocate for morning showers. “A morning shower suggests your body will be cleaner of night-acquired skin microbes when putting on fresh clothes. You'll also start the day with less sweat for odor-producing bacteria to feed on—which will probably help you smell fresher for longer during the day compared to someone who showered at night.”

But for her, the most defining factor is how often you wash your bed sheets, as it is closely related to the effectiveness of your showers. “If you don't regularly wash your sheets, this could lead to a build-up of dead skin cell deposits which will feed more dust mites. The droppings from these dust mites can trigger allergies and exacerbate asthma.”

If you're Team Night Shower, don't worry. We've previously heard from Dr. Jason Singh, who says nighttime showers help you sleep better as they help release melatonin, and are better at hydrating your skin, which is great for people with dry and sensitive skin. So whatever your preference, you'll have great arguments to bring to the table next time you engage in this debate. And that’s on top of keeping your skin healthy and clean, of course.

Sources: Should You Shower in The Morning or Night? It Depends on One Crucial Factor; Doctor Settles Debate About Whether It’s Better to Shower at Morning or at Night; Dr Primrose Freestone at University of Leicester

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Hair loss is a problem more common than you may realize. About 85% of men and 33% of women will suffer from hair loss at some point. That's what makes a new breakthrough so exciting. While transplants and drugs like Rogaine and Propecia have long helped, UCLA scientists have discovered something that might be even more efficient—PP405.

This small molecule appears to have a big impact on hair, able to awaken dormant but undamaged follicles. Lab work on the molecule has been ongoing for a decade, with scientists isolating PP405 and applying it to a protein in follicle stem cells that keeps them dormant. The molecule inhibits this protein, which then awakens the stem cells. The first human trials took place in 2023 and produced promising results after a topical medicine was applied to the scalp at bedtime for a week.

“No such product will work for everyone,” says Dr. William Lowry, associate director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, “but our first human trials in Orange County have been very encouraging, and there are larger trials with more people to follow.”

Most excitingly, the team believes the treatment will produce full “terminal” hair rather than the peach fuzz that topical treatments are known for. While waiting for FDA approval, the scientists co-founded a medical development company called Pelage Pharmaceuticals. Backed by Google Ventures, the company raised $16.4 million last year for further trials. If all goes well, hair treatments using PP405 should hit the market between 2027 and 2030.

Source: Did UCLA Just Cure Baldness?; Molecule PP405: A Research Team Backed By Google Ventures Has Discovered One Of The Most Promising Solutions For Hair Loss To Date

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For 70-year-old, Ohio-based conductor Rand Laycock, being able to control his arm and hand movements is crucial when guiding dozens of musicians in Parma Symphony Orchestra. But 11 years ago, just before his 60th birthday, Rand began to notice a twitch in his thumb, sparking concerns that something was wrong. He went to his doctor for advice, and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Rand’s tremors soon became uncontrollable, making his once-precise movements increasingly difficult. Medications alone couldn’t stop the shaking, and he feared that his ability to conduct would be lost. But then he discovered deep brain stimulation (DBS), a promising treatment offered by Dr. Michal Gostkowski, a neurologist at Cleveland Clinic.

DBS works just like a pacemaker—but for the brain. A small device is implanted to send targeted electrical impulses to areas responsible for movement, helping to regulate the irregular brain activity that leads to Parkinson’s symptoms. “When I was diagnosed 11 years ago, my doctor at the time told me this wasn’t a death sentence, and there would be advancements over the next few years to help with my treatment,” recalls Rand. “And here I am today with adaptive deep brain stimulation—something we didn’t even know about at the time.”

Rand went ahead with the DBS procedure in May 2024, and noticed immediate improvements to his condition. His surgery was performed by neurologist and neurosurgeon Sean Nagel, and programmer Erica Hennigs helped Rand set up his device. She explains, “When it comes to programming the device, we try different settings at first. We then adjust those during follow-up visits as we learn more about how his symptoms are being controlled.”

After around a year, Rand learned about a new advancement called adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS). “Traditional DBS gives the same stimulation to the brain 24 hours a day. Dr. Gostkowski explains, “What makes aDBS different is it can adapt and fine tune the stimulation in real time. By tracking a certain frequency in the brain, it can increase or decrease the stimulation as needed to better control symptoms.”

Since Rand’s movements changed throughout the day, he was a good fit for the adaptive DBS (aDBS). It can adjust automatically—boosting stimulation when his medication wears off to prevent tremors, and lowering it when the medication is working to reduce side effects like unwanted movements. Hennigs explains, “Since Rand’s a music conductor, fine tuning with aDBS would reduce the risk of him experiencing tremors if his medication were to wear off in the middle of a concert or performance.” Rand was also keen to test out the new technology, saying, “It sounded like it would make my life simpler–not having to worry about adjusting my device settings and medications as frequently.”

Rand has been using aDBS since March 2025, and his symptoms continue to improve. “My tremor is almost all gone, except if I experience extreme anxiety or stress—and my dyskinesia is pretty well under control.” he says. “My symptoms are minimal compared to the way they were, and a lot of that is due to the adaptive deep brain stimulation.”

Rand is now looking forward to his 47th year of conducting and cherishing time with his wife, two kids, and granddaughter. He also hopes that by sharing his story, more people will learn how DBS and aDBS can make a real difference for others living with Parkinson’s. He adds, “I know the thought of brain surgery can be intimidating, but it’s a life-changing procedure that allows you to become your own self again.”

Check out a video of Rand receiving treatment above.

Cleveland Clinic: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Source: Music Conductor Sees Parkinson’s Symptoms Improve With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation

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There’s an enduring belief that it only takes 21 days to form a habit—at least that’s what plastic surgeon Maxwell Matz insisted upon in his 1960 self-help book Psycho-Cybernetics. He claimed that it took his patients about 21 days to adjust to their new appearance after surgery and, though no formal experiment was conducted to verify this further, Matz’s observation eventually became an enduring myth in the popular imagination. But the reality of forming a habit is much more complex.

For centuries, habits and habit formation weren’t subject to rigorous research. In 2009, a groundbreaking study finally proved that, contrary to Matz’s theory, habits typically develop anywhere from 18 to 254 days. On average, it took 66 days for survey participants to reliably integrate one of three new daily activities in their lives: eating a piece of fruit with lunch, drinking a bottle of water with lunch, or running for 15 minutes before dinner. Repetition was also determined to be critical for “automaticity,” that is, engaging in a habit without necessarily thinking about it.

Some habits, however, are easier to incorporate than others. A 2012 study, for example, found that simple actions like drinking water encouraged greater automaticity compared to elaborate routines, such as a daily exercise regimen. A 2015 study reached a similar conclusion, in which new gym-goers had to exercise at least four times a week for six weeks to fully develop an exercise habit.

How, then, should someone develop a habit successfully? Unsurprisingly, consistency is key. Repeating a routine every day eventually leads to automaticity, especially if completed in the same context, whether it be at the same time of day, tied to a specific object like an alarm clock, or done with the same group of people. Cues, particularly when they’re distinctive, also strengthen the impulse to follow through on a habit, according to a 2016 study.

“Cue-based reminders are more potent when the cues they employ are distinctive relative to other regularly encountered stimuli and other stimuli encountered concurrently,” the study’s authors write. “They can be more effective than written or electronic reminder messages.”

Rewards can help, too, but only when they’re enjoyed right away. Phillippa Lally, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Surrey in England, told Scientific American that rewards are far more effective if received during a specific task, rather than after the fact. A 2014 study reaffirmed this, where people who listened to audiobooks while at the gym initially went there 51% more frequently than the control group.

Steadily reinforcing behaviors through repetition and cue-based associations does ultimately result in enduring habits. More often than not, this process takes more than 21 days, but that doesn’t mean that the habit won’t stick—even if it takes a few months.

Contrary to popular belief, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a consistent habit.

Photo: Alex McCarthy via Unsplash

According to recent studies, starting with a simpler task like drinking water after breakfast, repeating it daily, and implementing specific cues can all help in forming a new habit.

Photo: engin akyurt via Unsplash

Sources: How Long Does It Really Take to Form a Habit?; Reminders Through Association; How long does it take to form a habit?; Making health habitual: the psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice; Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants; Here's How Long You Need to Form a Habit, And 8 Tips to Stick With It; How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world

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Across the pond, over 90% of all schools in England have banned mobile phones from schools, according to a new national survey ordered by children’s commissioner Rachel de Souza. More specifically, the survey of more than 15,000 schools determined that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondaries have implemented some form of phone ban.

“As part of our plan for change, we will continue to ramp up monitoring and make sure every school, and every classroom, is phone-free, giving our children the best education,” Bridget Phillipson, England’s education secretary, told The Guardian.

These bans unfold in several different ways: some teachers require their students to turn in their phones, while others prohibit these devices from being brought to school in the first place. The vast majority of secondary schools, however, allow students to keep their phones on their person, but have implemented policies that ban their use or display during lessons.

“If we are serious about helping children reap the many benefits of the Internet, we need to get serious about regulating what they can see, where they can see it, and curbing the damage currently being wreaked on their health, attention span, and safety by tech companies,” de Souza said.

The survey complements existing evidence concerning smartphone use and its adverse impact on mental health, attention, and overall well-being in children, teenagers, and young adults. Last year, two studies conducted by King’s College London identified links between “problematic smartphone use (PSU)” and depression, anxiety, and insomnia, where 16- to 18-year-olds who reported PSU were twice as likely to experience anxiety and almost three times as likely to experience depression compared to those that didn’t report PSU. The studies also revealed that one in eight young people want help in reducing their smartphone use.

What better place to minimize this use than in school? In 2024, the Ormiston Academies Trust, which runs 44 state schools in England, began phasing out access to phones, a policy that intends to enhance concentration and retention during lessons.

“Learning can’t happen without attention,” Tom Rees, Ormiston’s chief executive, told The Guardian in an interview last fall. “There’s evidence that tells us that even if your phone is in the same room, it could be in your bag or pocket, your brain is leaking attention. That is impacting young people’s ability to learn, to retain information, to concentrate, to focus.”

These sorts of policies aren’t just widespread in the U.K. and Europe. In the U.S., many states are considering similar phone bans in schools, regardless of political affiliation. At least eight states so far have enacted such bans over the past two years, a bipartisan trend that addresses a 2023 Pew Research Center survey that found 72% of high school teachers felt phone usage was a “major problem.” Most recently, New York joined the national movement toward a “bell-to-bell” ban, which will apply to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“We’re protecting [students] from addictive technology designed to hijack their attention,” Kathy Hochul, New York State’s governor, said in a statement on April 28, 2025. “Cellphones have dragged too many of our kids into dark places.”

Some parents have raised concerns about these restrictions, claiming that they need to be able to contact their children directly in case of an emergency, especially amid recent school shootings. Regardless, these phone bans offer an antidote against the worrying statistics related to children’s attention and health, even as policymakers continue to refine the specifics of such regulations.

A recent nationwide survey found that over 90% of schools in England have implemented some form of mobile phone ban for its students.

Photo: WALI AHMAD FIRDAUS AHMAD RIZAL via Unsplash

The survey complements an international movement toward phone bans in schools, with policymakers, teachers, and researchers citing decreased attention and well-being due to phones and social media.

Photo: Avery Evans via Unsplash

Sources: Teens with problematic smartphone use are twice as likely to have anxiety – and many are eager to cut down; Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free; 72% of U.S. high school teachers say cellphone distraction is a major problem in the classroom; Banning cellphones in schools gains popularity in red and blue states; More than 90% of schools in England ban mobile phone use, survey shows; Map Shows Which States Have School Cellphone Bans

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READ: Over 90% of Schools in England Have Banned Mobile Phone Use