American parents want their children to have phones in schools

“It’s like they don’t trust us,” says Eva King, a 14-year-old student at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington. She stands outside the school during dismissal with two others who nod and laugh in agreement. Deal’s administration has banned cellphones throughout the school day. Students must store their devices in Yondr pouches, gray, padded cases that supposedly can only be opened with a special tool. Adults open the pouches with special magnets as students leave at the end of the day.

No wonder the students hacked the system. (“What do you expect?” Eva asks. “We’re middle school students.”) The girls recite a list of workarounds. The magnets have become hot property, and several have gone missing. Students have been seen opening the bags in the bathrooms. Other students have faulty cases that no longer close, but they’ve kept that information to themselves. The girls say that since phones have become forbidden fruit, students want them even more. They hope their school changes course after the summer.

Debates about teens’ access to and use of phones in schools have intensified recently, with some state legislatures across America passing laws to crack down on phone use in classrooms, without banning them altogether. A popular book released in March, “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt, has drawn new attention to evidence that social media, accessed primarily through smartphones, may be driving a surge in anxiety, depression, and self-harm among today’s youth.

Some researchers aren’t convinced that phones cause mental illness. Although America and Britain have reported increases in problems as social media use has grown, not all wealthy countries have seen similar increases. “Adolescence is influenced by many factors,” says Margarita Panayiotou, a researcher at the University of Manchester. “It would be unrealistic to expect one thing—social media—to affect adolescent mental health.”

Most parents want their children to have phones available at school. In February, the National Parents Union, an advocacy group, surveyed 1,506 parents of public school students and found that most believe students should be allowed to use their phones during their free time. Larry McEwen, a Deal parent and basketball coach at the school, agrees. He thinks students should have phones for emergencies. He and Eva King both recalled a nearby school closing last year because of a gun scare. That’s when the phones came in handy.

The devices are simply disruptive. Students can receive more than 50 notifications during a school day, according to a study of 203 children by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit based in San Francisco. Teachers have complained that students are watching YouTube and using other apps in class. Phones can be used as tools for bullying, and students have been secretly recorded using the bathroom or undressing in locker rooms. Now, the infamous schoolyard fights can be arranged over the phone.

Disconnect

It’s also clear that cell phones can undermine learning. Several studies have shown that their use reduces concentration in school, and phones don’t just affect the user. “There’s the secondhand smoke effect,” says Sabine Polak, founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement, another advocacy group. Even if a child doesn’t have a phone, they’re still affected by others using it. The devices are also stressful for teachers. They have to monitor their use, making sure students aren’t using their phones under their desks or during long bathroom and Netflix breaks.

An all-day ban is one way to avoid this, but as Deal’s students can attest, it’s also hard to enforce. Teachers have to make sure every kid puts their phone in a case and secures it when they arrive. That adds another task to a teacher’s day that doesn’t involve teaching. Alternatives need to be found for students who forget their cases, a predictable problem in any school full of teenagers.

New state laws aim to enforce phone-free classrooms while keeping students and parents connected. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last year banning students from using cellphones in the classroom, and a similar law in Indiana is set to take effect in July. Other states are considering similar bills. The moves differ from a more widespread push for legislation to protect children from social media (30 states and Puerto Rico are considering laws to protect children online, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures).

Outside of America, outright cellphone bans are more common in Asian countries, according to a report by UNESCO, the U.N.’s education and culture agency. France has banned phones from most students in schools since 2018, though enforcement has been difficult. Several countries, including the Netherlands, restrict phone use to non-teaching hours.

The answer for parents in America is to agree to delay giving their children smartphones, and schools should support them, says Kim Whitman of the Phone-Free Schools Movement. Parents could use simpler devices to communicate and track their children, such as flip phones, smart watches or tracking devices. Overall, Whitman wants parents who want instant communication with their children to relax. “We all survived for a very long time and functioned perfectly well without a phone and without the ability to contact parents immediately,” she notes.

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