Earlier this year, Florida passed a law requiring public schools across the state to ban cell phone use by students during class time. The new state rules reflect an intensification of the global crackdown on young people and social media.
In early October, the British government issued new guidelines recommending that the use of mobile phones by students be banned. banned in schools nationwide. This was followed by Italy, which last year ai-cellulari-in-classe-circolare-del-ministero-inviata-alle-scuole-valditara-tuteliamo-l-apprendimento-dei-ragazzi-e-il-rispetto-per-i-docenti-” title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>banned cell phones during classes, and China, which two years ago technology-55902778″ title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Children were prohibited from taking phones to school.
TO recent UNESCO report, the United Nations’ educational and cultural agency, found that nearly one in four countries now have laws or policies that prohibit or restrict students’ use of cell phones in schools. These prohibitions typically make exceptions for students with disabilities and for educational uses approved by teachers.
Still, the crackdown on smartphones is controversial.
Advocates say the bans prevent students from browsing social media and sending intimidating text messages, reducing distractions in the classroom. Critics warn that cutting off students’ access to their phones could disproportionately punish those with jobs or family responsibilities, and that enforcing bans could prompt harsh disciplinary measures such as school suspensions.
While some schools have seen a significant decrease in cyberbullying incidents, there is little rigorous research on the long-term effects of bans.
How did the bans start?
School districts in the United States have been experimenting with phone bans for more than 30 years.
In 1989, as Illegal drug sales skyrocketed, Maryland passed a law making it illegal for students to bring pagers and devices then known as “cell phones” to school. Violators could face fines and jail time. In the 1990s, as more students brought cell phones to school, districts also instituted bans to eliminate disruptive devices that kept ringing during classes.
In the early 2000s, after the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, schools began rolling back their bans on cell phone use for safety reasons, to allow students They will communicate with their parents during emergencies.
The bans soon increased again as schools tried to curb new classroom distractions: iPhones and popular mobile apps like Facebook. In 2010, more than 90 percent of schools banned students from using cell phones during school hours, according to federal data.
But concern that many students from low-income families, who couldn’t afford to buy their own laptops, were using cellphones for educational purposes caused some school districts to reconsider. For 2016, only two thirds of schools prohibited mobile phones.
Since then, warnings about compulsive social media use and cyberbullying have led more schools to institute bans. Last week, dozens of researchers and children’s advocates sent a letter to secretary miguel cardona calling on the Department of Education to issue a notice urging schools across the country to ban mobile phones.
Why do schools ban phones?
Young people filmed violent school fights and posted the videos on TikTok. Students have also participated in social media challenges in which they vandalized school property.
In 2021, 16 percent of U.S. high school students said they had been bullied through text messages or social media platforms like Instagram in the previous year, according to a report this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some students are also inundated with notifications on social media. A recent report from Common Sense Media, which followed about 200 young people with Android phones, found that participants typically received 237 notifications on their mobile phones during the day, about a quarter of them during school hours.
Do cell phone bans in schools work?
National reports on cell phone bans in schools offer mixed results.
TO federal survey of principals in 2016 found that schools with cell phone bans reported higher rates of cyberbullying than schools that allowed cell phone use. (The report does not offer an explanation for why schools with cell phone bans reported higher rates of cyberbullying.)
A study of schools in Spain, published last year, found a significant reduction in cyberbullying in two regions that had imposed bans on mobile phone use in schools. In one of those regions, math and science test scores also increased significantly.
A recent study in norway found that female students exposed to smartphone bans in high school had higher GPAs. But the bans had “no effect” on boys’ GPAs, perhaps because girls spent more time on their phones, according to the study.
What should schools do?
The recent UNESCO report recommended that schools proceed with caution, consider the role of new technologies in learning and base their policies on solid evidence.
The UN agency also suggested that exposure to digital tools such as cell phones could help students develop a critical view of emerging technologies.
“Students need to learn the risks and opportunities that technology brings, develop critical skills and understand how to live with and without technology,” UNESCO said. “Protecting students from new and innovative technologies can put them at a disadvantage.”
