This year's most popular back-to-school trend is one that most students won't be happy about: the ban on cell phones.
A growing number of districts across the country have enacted, or plan to enact, bans on students using their cell phones during school hours starting this academic year. That includes some of the largest districts, including Los Angeles Unified and New York Citywhich aim to ban phones by early 2025.
Several states, including Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, have passed laws requiring cellphone bans in schools. And several more, including Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio, have ordered districts to create policies limiting children’s cellphone use in schools. Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to California districts last week urging them to limit student smartphone use.
The 2024-25 school year may be the turning point when adults act to curb children’s phone addiction and regain their attention. It’s about time.
By now it should be obvious that having a pocket-sized entertainment center constantly vibrating with alerts and temptations is not good for kids' ability to focus and learn. (It's not good for adults, either.)
According to Dr. A studyOnce distracted, it can take up to 20 minutes to refocus. Other studies They have discovered that keeping the phone nearby during a conference impairs attention and reduces memory retention.
Almost three quarters of secondary school teachers surveyed last fall According to the Pew Research Center, students being distracted by their cellphones in the classroom is a major problem. And more than half of those teachers said school policies restricting cellphone use in the classroom are difficult to enforce. (Middle school and elementary school teachers had it a bit easier, with their students being less distracted and better complying with restrictions.)
In addition, excessive social media use increases the risk of anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying, and students use their phones during the day to coordinate drug buys and fights. It's clear that the presence of cell phones on campus is doing more harm than good. Kids need intervention, and schools are right to put the brakes on this technology now, before another generation suffers.
“It is our responsibility, rather than the parents, to act as the responsible adult who protects them” during the school day, said Los Angeles schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
The Los Angeles Unified School District is consulting with administrators, parents, students and experts on the details of the proposed cellphone ban. The district is still studying options (other districts have required students to lock phones in their lockers, sealed in bags with a padlock or stored in phone lockers) and the method may vary from campus to campus.
The goal, Carvalho said, is to have a policy that is implemented uniformly across all schools. District staff will make recommendations to the Board of Education in December, with the goal of having the ban take effect when students return from winter break in January.
Yes, it will be difficult to change the behavior of both students, who are reluctant to part with their phones, and their parents, who are used to being able to communicate with their children at any time of day. Yes, some students will try to evade the rules. The first few weeks and months of cell phone bans will be challenging for teachers, administrators, students, and parents. It will be a major cultural shift, but one worth making.
And it's quite possible that at the end of the school year, students and educators will look back and think, “Why didn't we do this sooner?”
