Many schools have started banning or restricting cell phone use in an effort to protect today’s chronically online generation from distraction, social media-fueled anxiety and other online dangers. But do cell phone bans really work in an era where smartphones are a regular part of daily life – from ordering lunch to listening to music?
Preparing today’s youth for successful adulthood requires more than limiting their cell phone use – we need to teach them to develop healthy relationships with technology.
Calls to ban cell phones
It’s a scene that makes every adult cringe: a group of teens gathered together in silence, each gazing into their own device.
Many students get their first phone around age 11, and the device soon becomes a “constant companion,” according to Common Sense Media. The phone becomes a huge source of distraction – many kids receive more than 200 daily notifications, and check their devices a dozen times during the school day.
“For my school, we do have a phone policy and we’re not technically allowed to have it out during class, but a lot of people do in spite of that. And definitely, I think if you track kids at my school, their phone usage, you would definitely see them checking their phones, and then checking Snapchat during class.
—10th grader, Constant Companion, (Common Sense Media 2023)
Beyond distracting students from healthy physical, social and educational activities, social media has fueled a spike in youth mental health problems, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. Pew Research found nearly two-thirds of teens say they’ve experienced cyberbullying, and one quarter receive explicit images online.
Together, these concerns have led many schools and districts to implement policies to protect kids from the dangers of cell phone use. Twenty-eight states now have laws or policies on the books to ban or limit the use of cell phones at school, according to EdWeek.
Positive aspects of teen device use
For all the risks related to cell phones, it’s important to remember there are benefits, too. Four out of five teens say social media helps them feel more connected to their friends, and 71% say social media gives them an opportunity to showcase their creativity. Because social media extends well beyond one’s hometown, it can also be a powerful form of connection for young people who feel alone or isolated in their community.
“It connects me with the world, provides an outlet to learn things I otherwise wouldn’t have access to, and allows me to discover and explore interests.”
– Teen in Pew Research report
Building healthy relationships with technology
The reality is cell phones aren’t going away, even if they are out of students hands during school hours. Instead, educators and parents must teach students to develop a healthy relationship with technology that’s part of everyday life. Here are a key ways that parents and teachers can help help students do that:
- Education. Digital literacy education must be more than a one-off lesson. Many schools provide basic online safety and digital citizenship training to comply with CIPA requirements, but that should only be the start. Today’s students need comprehensive digital literacy training in online privacy, cyberbullying, digital citizenship, online collaboration, multimedia tools that’s incorporated into their overall curriculum. Every part of modern life has been impacted by technology, and the same should be true for education.
- Empowerment. Empower young people with the knowledge that the modern media landscape was specifically designed to grab and hold their attention. The internet isn’t free – they are paying with their time and energy. Dino Ambrosi brilliantly describes the hold social media apps have on young people and how he overcame his own cell phone “addiction,” in his TEDx talk, The Battle for Your Time: Exposing the Costs of Social Media.
- Boundaries. School bans on cell phones provide firm limits on technology use during school hours. But young people ultimately need to learn to self-regulate their technology use throughout the day. Parents and teachers can help students set healthy boundaries such as no cell phones at dinner or occasional device-free days.
- Open discussions. Technology keeps evolving, which means parents and educators need to foster ongoing, open discussions about device use with their kids. This can include open conversations about their expectations for online behavior – beyond obvious no-nos like cyberbullying. Creating a classroom netiquette guide or something similar for your family, can help get those conversations started, and provide guidelines to refer to. And as children grow older, it’s important to continue those conversations and adapt expectations for online behavior to be age-appropriate.
Digital literacy is a core skill set in the 21st century, one that must be cultivated in and out of the classroom. Combining policies like school cell phone restrictions with pedagogy practices such as comprehensive digital literacy education, will ensure our kids develop a healthy, productive relationship with the technologies of today – and the future.