It’s back-to-school season for much of the U.S., and for many children that means they’ll be facing unwanted restrictions on their cell phone use.
Some experts and research indicate that kids should, in fact, take a breather from their phones during the school day. However, other experts think recent bans on cell phone use in the classroom may be misguided.
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“Cell phones clearly can be distracting in school, and there are studies that support that, but cell phones also have been ways to help schools become more equitable in terms of technology access,” said Elizabeth Keren-Kolb, a clinical professor of education technologies and teacher education at the University of Michigan, according to USA Today.
This June, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she was working with school officials to develop a policy regarding smartphone use in schools.
“We can help our young people succeed in the classroom by ensuring they’re learning and growing - not clicking and scrolling,” Hochul said, according to a press release.
Across the country, California Gov. Gavin Newsom this month “called on every school district to restrict smartphone use in classrooms,” for the new school year. Already, the Los Angeles Unified School District became the largest national to approve a cell phone ban this summer. In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin also recently issued Executive Order 33 directing the state’s department of education to draft guidance for cell phone-free education policies.
While Hochul worked to implement plans in New York state, Mayor Eric Adams of New York City “poured cold water Tuesday on an imminent citywide school cell phone ban,” according to Chalkbeat. That report said he cited “a number of remaining obstacles” and said the city is “not there yet.”
In response to a question from Chalkbeat, Adams said: “There will be some action in the upcoming school year, but the extent of a full ban, we’re not there yet. We want to make sure we have parents on board.”
A nationwide survey conducted by the Pew Research Center conducted in June found that 72% of high school teachers said that their students being distracted by cell phones was a problem. Around a third of middle school teachers said the same, as well as 6% of elementary school teachers.
That Pew survey also found that 82% of K-12 schools in the U.S. actually already have a cell phone use policy. Some require students to turn off their phones during class or give them to an administrator during the school day.
Last year, Common Sense released a report on smartphone use among young people since they became available in 2007. It found that “getting a smartphone is now a rite of passage for most children and adolescents in the United States,” and 88% to 95% of teens age 13 to 18 have one. In fact, most kids in the U.S. get their smartphone when they are 11 and 43% of tweens age 8 to 12 have had one, per the report.
“Young people describe a range of supportive and stressful experiences with their smartphones – some wish they hadn’t gotten one so early, while also describing it as an appendage that they cannot live without,” said the report. “The decision of when to get a smartphone, and negotiations about rules and boundaries around smartphone use, are frequent sources of parental stress and family arguments.”
Common Sense found that 97% of participants used their phones during school hours (8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday) for around 43 minutes. It also recorded a median number of 13 phone pickups per school day.
According to UNESCO, one study looking at pre-primary to higher education in 14 countries found that cell phone use distracted students from learning, and that “even just having a mobile phone nearby with notifications coming through is enough to result in students losing their attention from the task at hand.”
It also said that one study indicated it can take around 20 minutes to refocus after a phone-related distraction.
“Several factors contribute to young people’s attachment to their phones. First, it is developmentally appropriate for adolescents to seek connection and feedback from their friends and communities, and to want to do so on a frequent basis,” said the Common Sense report. “Children and adolescents have developmentally adaptive curiosity about information, culture, entertainment, and stories that help them make sense of their world.”
UNESCO said that measures to remove smartphones from classrooms in Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom were found to improve learning outcomes, per a study it cited in a recent report. That was especially true for students covered in that study who were not performing as well as their peers.
Although many schools and districts have policies regarding phone use in the U.S., Common Sense said they vary widely. Keren-Kolb, who has written books on cell phone use in school, thinks that is a good thing. She believes each community should decide what is right for its children.
Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, is also wary of cell phone bans.
“It’s generally a terrible idea to ban a tool they’ll need to use in the future,” he said. “It harms kids when we aren’t teaching them to use technology effectively.”
Going forward, Keren-Kolb recommends embracing the use of smartphones rather than fighting against it. She said teachers could even use them as instructional aids or in-class resources for instructional purposes, since some children are likely already using them to complete schoolwork, whether out of ease, preference or necessity.
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