Health Update: Why healthy phone use is next challenge to mental wellness – What Experts Say

Healthy phone use has become the next frontier in higher education’s mental wellness campaigns. With smartphones functioning as students’ inseparable companions, administrators are rethinking how digital habits shape well‑being, connection and academic success.

A 2025 survey by Echelon Insights found that a majority of U.S. students spend five hours or more each day on nonacademic phone activities such as social media and entertainment.

At the K12 level, at least 20 states and Washington D.C. have banned students from using their cell phones and tablets during the instructional day. Nevertheless, most young people still use their devices despite knowing the consequences.

“This is not a tech issue; it’s a health issue,” says Mary Tinlin, dean of Health & Wellness at Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. “Excessive or unhealthy technology use affects your sleep, your mental health, your physical health, your academic performance and even relationships.”

Excessive phone use both contributes to and compounds the loneliness, anxiety and depression now prevalent among undergraduates. Research has shown that students who reduce their social media intake can meaningfully improve their mental health.

However, many students remain tethered to digital spaces that promise connection but ultimately leave them feeling more isolated.

“Students often think that they’re connecting with others through online communities or conversation,” Tinlin says, “but it’s really missing that whole element of human-to-human connection.”

Managing students’ attention

With social media algorithms designed to keep users scrolling for hours, Tinlin argues that students need new tools and boundaries to protect their attention.

“Time management is about controlling your to-do list, but you can’t control your cognitive energy in the same way,” she says. “You’ve got to really figure out a way to manage that mental bandwidth so that you’re preserving that for the things that really matter.”

A key behavior she recommends is time‑blocking—consolidating phone use into a single, intentional window rather than dozens of quick checks throughout the day.

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“Get your phone out of your bed; don’t charge it by your bed,” she says. “People who like to work out don’t run by the gym every time they pass it to get two push-ups in. They schedule a time, they enjoy it and they leave it behind.”

“Digital detox” events failed to garner any student buy-in because students found being without their phones for two hours too “daunting,” Tinlin says. Curbing excessive phone use must be broken down into manageable goals.

The next iteration of programming at Flagler will emphasize “connection, fun and shared experience,” she continues.

Sustained practice and education surrounding phone use can lead to significant improvements. Students in Loyola University Maryland’s screen time management class eventually performed 48-hour “digital fasts,” The Washington Post reports.

Building connection into the curriculum

At Wichita State University, Assistant Vice President Jessica Provines leads Health Outreach Prevention and Education Services, which includes healthy phone use in broader mental‑wellness education.

Their “Mental Wellness in the Classroom Cards,” created with the psychology department, provide faculty with classroom conversation prompts about emotional well‑being.

The cards deliver information and an opportunity for relationship‑building in the classroom. It’s Provines’ ways of “sneaking the spinach into the smoothie.”

“The cards are not just an educational moment, but actually a connection moment,” she says. “They’re group discussion classes around mental health that are designed to reduce loneliness and increase vulnerability between students.

“Before they know it, they might feel a connection and develop friendships,” she continues. That’s really a part of our goal in these kinds of interventions.”

Wichita State also partners with ProjectConnect, a national program that facilitates small‑group friendship‑building exercises. While not explicitly focused on technology, the sessions are intentionally phone‑free so that students experience “wet brain to wet brain” connection.

Why phone hygiene must be stressed beyond students

Provines stresses that unhealthy technology behaviors extend well beyond students. Constant access to work email and messages creates an “always‑on” culture that strains employees’ mental health, too.

“We really need to engage our whole population around this education,” she says. “Sometimes our reliance on [being readily available] impacts our mental health and well-being, and how we model our phone use to our students is important.”