Every time I write about smartphones affecting teenagers, critics criticize me and accuse me of promoting moral panic.
That's silly.
I'm not here to debate whether phones have contributed to increased anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem among minors. Many experts are studying this and are getting many conflicting results.
But I am I'm here to tell you that if you're raising a young teenager, you should know deep down that worrying about smartphones and social media is not an irrational, “Reefer Madness”-style reaction to change.
It's as clear as the noses on the faces of our children, who, by the way, are constantly buried in their phones. Find me a dad who doesn't regularly fight with his kid over putting away her smartphone: at the table, with friends, in the car, on the sidewalk, at the beach, at the mall, on their bicycles – and I will find you a father who is deployed, separated or dead. Let's be honest: our children are addicts.
It is very difficult to control our children's smartphone use outside of school, but there is no reason why we cannot control their smartphone use. during school. In fact, educators around the world are adopting that view.
Some schools use lockers to store phones; others use bags that lock until they hit a magnetic device on the school door.
In a recent Times opinion essay, Nick Melvoin, a member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, called for a ban on smartphones in Los Angeles public schools.
“Restricting phone use in the classroom increases academic performance, with gains in test scores similar to those achieved when an hour is added to the school week,” he wrote. In Spain, she added, the scores of students in schools that have banned smartphones have increased, accompanied by a “significant drop in cyberbullying.”
Closer to home, Melvoin noted, some Los Angeles public schools have already implemented phone bans. “LAUSD school principals who have implemented phone-free school days policies report that fights have decreased, student engagement has increased, and the overall campus climate is more positive,” she wrote.
Melvoin's resolution directing district staff to develop a phone ban was approved by the board Tuesday.
Fortunately, the chorus in favor of banning smartphones in schools is growing louder.
Last month, the California Assembly passed a bill that would ban student use of smartphones in public schools. The bill is now being considered in the state Senate.
On Monday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said he would ask Congress to require warning labels on social media apps.
“It's time to demand a surgeon general warning label on social media platforms, indicating that social media is associated with significant harm to adolescent mental health,” he wrote in the New York Times. A warning label, he wrote, would “periodically remind parents and teens that social media has not been proven safe.”
Smartphones have been causing tension in my house for years. After my niece moved in with me in 2019, at age 8, she talked incessantly about how she wanted a phone. We later signed a “Wait Until 8th” pledge to not get her one until the end of high school, but she badgered me into asking her for an iPhone first because most of her friends had one. I was determined to hold the line and I did.
Man, though, was she persistent. In seventh grade, she wrote a 10-point statement: “Reasons Why You Should Get an iPhone.”
She was not deprived of any device. He had a Gabb phone, which looks like an iPhone but can only be used to make and receive phone calls, text messages and photos. It is not equipped with the Internet, so it has no applications or social networks. But she did have an iPad and access to Snapchat, their preferred social media platform, and Roblox, the gaming app, to play with friends.
He was smart to arrange his argument for a smartphone, starting with logic and then going for the emotional jugular.
“Number 1) Scan QR codes: I need this for my entire life because people don't want to make paper menus or just print things out anymore.”
I noticed that the displays at her high school's science fair included QR codes for information about the experiments. Some school advertisements also included QR codes. If you couldn't scan them, would you be missing important information?
“Number 2) Listening to music: I chose this one because I have to record things on my phone to listen to music. Also, if you're about to say what's wrong with your iPad, I can't charge it when I go home from school.”
And then, clever girl, she played the fear card:
“Number 5) Facetime: On my phone, I can only make audio calls. “I would like to Facetime in case I need to tell someone where I am in an emergency.”
“Number 7) Look for things: If I'm ever walking home or alone anywhere, I'd want to be able to look at where I am. Or how to get out of wherever you are.”
That's all true, of course.
But one of the beautiful things about smartphones is the “Find My” feature. Wearing my smartphone, I can always see where he is, or at least where his phone is.
If it is locked away during school hours, so much the better.
