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I vividly remember when my fifth-grade son found out he was one of only two in his new class who didn’t have a cell phone.
Our family had recently moved to a well-regarded school district with great families and knowledgeable teachers, but despite our best intentions, it seemed like all of our kids were busy texting friends, family, coaches, and on various social media platforms.
Ten years ago, I was involved in a mobile learning initiative at a private university, and I knew firsthand how powerful mobile phone technology could be for students, and how devastating the impact mobile phones and related technologies could have on classroom learning environments, social connections, and overall human flourishing.
Mobile phones have transformed the learning environment into an unrestricted one, bombarding children with messages, photos, streams and advertisements while teachers stand in front of a whiteboard trying to teach them. (iStock)
Since the publication of Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, The Anxious Generation, there has been a growing call among school district leaders, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to ban cell phones in schools. As a former teacher, professor, dean of students, and now the parent of a school-age child, I not only support the call to ban cell phones in schools, but I also want to encourage parents and teachers to work together to accomplish this important generation-defining mission.
Morning Glory: Put your phone down, dammit
Growing elementary and middle school children are essentially children with just their clothes on and their nervous systems exposed. At this critical age, children are moving away from their families, hesitantly reaching out into the rough waters of independence, discovering who they are, who they are not, how they interact with the outside world, and how they are accepted.
In an ideal world (and of course, I don’t believe this is the reality in the majority of places), elementary and middle school classrooms should be safe, bounded environments where children can breathe, feel seen, known, and connected to adults at their center. These classrooms should be places to explore, learn, question, and fail, under the guidance of caring, knowledgeable adults.
Mobile phones wreak havoc on the developing minds of young children. They create unlimited learning environments. While a teacher stands in front of a whiteboard teaching mathematics, children are bombarded with messages, photos, snaps, streams, videos and advertisements from all over the world.
The human brain, let alone a child’s, can’t handle the switching, barrage of messages, constant comparisons and distractions that mobile devices cause. Add to that the pressures of sexting and sharing inappropriate messages and content that never go away, and the idea of giving a child a cell phone seems like insanity.
Limiting access to cell phones could help students’ grades, social skills and early development, experts say
As my friend and former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan recently said, “Giving a child a cell phone isn’t giving the child access to the world, it’s giving the world access to the child.”
Cell phones are not harmless toys or ways to keep in touch with friends. They are extraordinary supercomputers designed by commercial corporations to rob humans of their ability to detach, discern, and objectively interpret reality. This is difficult for adults to manage (hello, anxiety), and impossible for children and teens to manage in the classroom.
Of course, many will dismiss the concerns I have raised above as fear mongering and scare tactics. Not all children and teens will end up in nasty situations, that’s true. But except in extreme circumstances, I believe there are still many reasons to be concerned about cell phones in schools.
A recent survey by Common Sense Media found that 50% of teenagers at least The average person receives 237 notifications every day, with some receiving over 4,000. Another study found that teens spend about 8.5 hours per day on screens. And according to Gallup, the average American teen spends 4.8 hours a day on social media. Even the most supportive adults of mobile phones will understand how serious a problem this is.
Cell phone bans to be implemented in public schools in some states amid mixed reviews from experts
The reality is that we are knowingly giving our kids devices that are proven to be distracting, inhibiting impulses, and socially disruptive. Kids have to learn to relate to flesh-and-blood adults. They have to learn to participate in social communities. They have to learn to concentrate deeply on particularly difficult, uncomfortable, and seemingly “boring” tasks in order to develop the neural pathways they will use later in life.
Mobile phones are dehumanizing our children. Imagine having someone walk in 237 times a day and suddenly sound a foghorn right behind your ear. This is totally cruel and unfair.
We are rolling the dice with the hearts and minds of our children and teens.
And this technology is only about 10 years old. We have no idea how it’s harming children’s developing brains. We won’t know if it’s permanently altered their brain chemistry or neurodevelopment until it’s too late to do anything about it.
So, remember that 5th grade son I mentioned earlier? He’s now in high school and certain activities require electronic communications. His school prohibits the use of cell phones on campus and during class, but he does need a way to receive electronic communications.
Classroom teachers’ views: Cell phone bans likely cause more problems than benefits
I’ll admit it: I love being able to text my son. I love being able to check in on him when I’m out, when I’ve got a funny joke to tell, or when I just want to see how his day is going. But lately, it’s occurred to me that the phones we give our kids aren’t really for them, but rather for us.
Parents who train their kids to text every test and screenshot every mean exchange with their classmates are completely robbing their kids of any responsibility for living in the real world and are blatantly communicating a lack of confidence, competence, and strength.
At the same time, we gather around the office water cooler and complain about the younger generation’s lack of grit and strength, as if we’d taken our kids to the gym of life but then taken all the weight off the barbell so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, and now we’re upset they never gained any strength.
In essence, we send our kids to school tethered to electronic distractions in the form of cell phones, and then we pretend to be shocked that the mental health of an entire generation is rapidly deteriorating and national test scores in difficult subjects that require concentration (like math and writing) continue to fall.
Here is my plea:
Governor Newsom to restrict cellphone use in schools: ‘It’s damaging to young people’s mental health’
Let’s give kids a chance. Let’s give kids a chance to build true, deep, in-person friendships. Let’s let kids learn the incredibly difficult task of focusing deeply on difficult and challenging problems and tasks. Let’s give kids the opportunity to both succeed and fail, and to grow, become stronger, and learn to trust themselves in collaboration with other safe classmates and educators, without being digitally monitored. And let’s give teachers the opportunity to engage with students with their full presence.
Parents: The world has changed before us, and now it’s time to reclaim our homes, our schools, and the minds and bodies of our children.
Parents, teachers, school administrators, and communities can work together to provide children with developmentally and neurologically appropriate learning and social environments.
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Ban the use of cell phones in classrooms and at school during lessons. If cell phones are essential, they should only be allowed to be used after school hours.
Our children have a right to opportunities, and it is up to the adults around them to give them those opportunities.
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