Best questions for middle school student survey about cell phone policy

Here are some of the best questions for a middle school student survey about cell phone policy, plus tips for making your survey more effective. You can build an AI-powered survey like this with Specific and have it ready in seconds.

Best open-ended questions for middle school cell phone policy surveys

Open-ended questions let students share thoughts in their own words and often reveal context, challenges, or emotions that closed questions miss. Use these when you want depth and detail, not just quick yes/no answers.

Here are 10 open-ended questions we recommend for a middle school cell phone policy survey:

1. How do you feel about the current cell phone policy at your school?

2. Can you describe a situation where the cell phone policy helped or hurt you during class or at school?

3. In what ways, if any, do you think cell phones are useful at school?

4. How do you stay in touch with your family during the school day without using a phone?

5. What changes, if any, would you suggest to the current cell phone policy?

6. How does the policy affect your ability to focus and learn during class?

7. Have you ever seen other students breaking the cell phone rules? What happened?

8. Do you think the current policy is fair to everyone? Why or why not?

9. What rules would you create if you could set the cell phone policy at your school?

10. Can you give examples of when having a phone at school was helpful or harmful?

Open-ended questions lead to richer responses, helping school leaders and teachers understand perspectives and identify root issues—especially at a time when 77% of U.S. public schools prohibit cell phones during classes and student voice in policy matters.[1]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for the survey

Single-select multiple-choice questions are effective when you need to quantify answers or want to spark conversation without asking students to think up detailed answers right away. They’re less taxing to answer and can guide you toward what to ask next, especially when paired with well-placed follow-ups.

Question: How would you describe your experience with the current cell phone policy at your school?

• Very positive

• Somewhat positive

• Neutral

• Somewhat negative

• Very negative

Question: Which of the following do you use your cell phone for at school (if at all)?

• Staying in touch with family

• Research for school work

• Entertainment (games, music, etc.)

• Emergencies only

• I don’t bring a phone to school

• Other

Question: Do you feel the cell phone policy at your school is:

• Too strict

• About right

• Too lenient

When to follow up with "why?" If a student chooses “Too strict,” following up with “Why do you feel the policy is too strict?” uncovers concrete suggestions or points of disagreement, offering far more useful data than a lone multiple-choice answer.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Including “Other” acknowledges that not every possible answer fits your list. Following up on “Other” lets students explain in their words—sometimes surfacing unique habits or concerns you hadn’t thought to include.

Getting quantifiable data is vital, especially considering that in 2020, 97% of middle schools had a cell phone policy, with 84% prohibiting phone use during class time. Many students have strong and diverse opinions on these rules.[2]

Should you use an NPS question for middle school student surveys?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) may sound corporate, but it’s adaptable for education. Asking how likely students are to recommend their school’s cell phone policy (0–10 scale) prompts a simple, revealing call: “Would you tell a friend your school’s phone policy is great, or not?” It creates a feedback anchor that’s actionable for administration and useful for tracking, especially when policies evolve. You can generate an NPS survey for middle school students about cell phone policy in one click as a conversation starter.

The NPS format also allows for tailored follow-ups: dig deeper with “What’s the main reason for your score?” for promoters (those who love or appreciate the rules), passives, and detractors (those who object), surfacing root causes fast. Given that 53% of public school leaders believe cell phones negatively affect academic performance, using NPS as part of your survey helps connect policy with community perception and real-life impact.[3]

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions can turn a flat survey into a nuanced conversation. They’re a core feature of automated AI surveys: as the respondent answers, the AI gently probes for clarification, specific examples, or motivation. Specific’s approach uses AI to ask these follow-ups in real time, letting respondents feel heard while capturing richer insights for the researcher.

• Student: “The policy is kind of unfair.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share an example of when you felt it was unfair?”

Without this, we’d only get the surface-level “unfair”, leaving us guessing at the details or needing to chase with emails and extra interviews. Automatic, context-aware follow-ups save time and surface what truly matters.

How many follow-ups to ask? We recommend asking 2–3 follow-ups on key questions. Specific also lets you set a rule to move on after enough detail is captured—making for a more responsive, fluid survey that doesn’t overwhelm students.

This makes it a conversational survey. Instead of static forms or checkboxes, follow-ups create a back-and-forth, feeling like a real conversation instead of a tedious survey.

Analysis with AI: Open-ended responses can pile up, but AI-driven analysis lets you quickly summarize, theme, and even “chat” with your full set of student answers to draw out actionable insights—no matter how much text you collect.

Try generating an AI survey and see how dynamic, automated follow-ups instantly surface higher quality data than generic forms.

How to prompt ChatGPT or other AIs for better questions

Prompt design matters: the clearer you are about context, goals, and audience, the better the quality of questions AI gives you. Here’s how we do it:

Start simple:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for middle school student survey about cell phone policy.

For better results, add more context. Instead of only “suggest questions,” share what you need and why:

We’re conducting a confidential survey with middle schoolers about the cell phone policy. We want honest feedback, personal experiences, and suggestions for school improvement. Focus on both negative and positive effects, fairness, and possible changes. Generate 10 open-ended questions.

To structure your survey further, ask AI to group results:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Next, review the categories, pick your focus, and go deeper:

Generate 10 questions for categories ‘Classroom Distraction’ and ‘Fairness/Equity’.

Using AI this way can give you a solid starting point, and the AI survey generator in Specific lets you chat back and forth with an AI to refine, reorder, or edit every question—much faster than building manually.

What is a conversational survey and how is it better?

Conversational surveys—like those you create with Specific—don’t feel like taking a standardized test. Instead, they mimic real-life interactions. Every response is an opportunity for the AI to probe deeper, clarify confusion, or celebrate insight. The format itself invites honesty, engagement, and richer context, especially important with middle schoolers (many of whom dread “boring” forms).

Compared to traditional/manual survey creation, the difference is dramatic:

Why use AI for middle school student surveys? AI-powered survey tools like Specific adapt in real time, ask contextually smart follow-ups, and make the process more interesting for students—leading to more thorough and honest feedback. They also help researchers and administrators quickly analyze results, spot trends, and make decisions without sifting through endless spreadsheets or text fields.

If you want to see how this works in practice, check out our guide to creating a middle school cell phone policy survey for step-by-step tips and templates.

See this cell phone policy survey example now

Jumpstart your survey with expert-designed questions, AI-powered follow-ups, and analysis—all in one place. Get deeper, more actionable feedback from your students—in less time. See how a conversational AI survey makes it easy for everyone to be heard and understood, right away.