Many states have decided that cellphones in schools need to be regulated by law, but are they implementing these bans in the best way? It depends on who you ask. In an AP News article, Connecticut State Rep. Jennifer Leeper warns that phones are “a cancer on our kids” which is “driving isolation, loneliness, decreasing attention, and having major impacts both on social-emotional well-being but also learning.” As we see more states embracing these cellphone bans, we should ask ourselves: Are we putting too much blame on phones?
Most schools in the United States use computers, so even if every state banned cellphones, internet access would still be available. Yes, there are more restrictions of school-provided computers, but that system is not perfect. Once a student leaves school with no phone presence and enters the workplace or college, they will not be restricted on their phone the same way they were in school. If you start in school by allowing student to create habits and strategies to manage themselves, then you are setting them up for success.
Now restrictions on phones are not the problem; it is the idea that once you enter school that phones should not exist, especially in high school. NPR notes the progress made since implementing a phone ban by surveying teachers, using a single study from a Texas professor. The teachers “reported more participation by students” and also said they saw “student anxiety plummet mainly because students weren’t afraid of being filmed at any moment and embarrassing themselves.” By only surveying teachers, there is no hard proof that there is a correlation between the phone ban and student participation. Additionally, this reports only one year of one specific Texas high school. There are many other variables that could explain this outcome which Carillo fails to take into account.
Should we outright say phone restrictions are off limits? No, but we should still consider other methods. But for now, there needs to be more evidence not just based on teacher sentiment. These decisions should be informed by people who experience the dynamics of high school, along with studies done on all types of bans to guide major policy decisions like these – especially when phones are part of daily life and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
So, are phone bans the solution to bullying, bad grades, depression, and general bad behavior? No. Those negative outcomes happened in schools before phones even existed, and there is no one simple ban or rule that can get rid of them. Are any phone restrictions bad? No, but they are not perfect either. The phone policies should be left up to the schools, allowing for the nuance each school has. At East, for example, students are allowed to use their phones during free periods unless they make poor choices with that time – which is fair and does not punish everyone for the actions of a few. Ultimately, we need to find a healthy middle ground between a full-phone ban and full-phone freedom.
