School Phone Bans: Why They're Spreading

"It's a no-brainer," said John A. Torres in Florida Today. Banning phones in schools is "the right thing to do for our kids." Florida is one of 17 states, plus Washington, D.C., enacting all-day phone bans as students head back to school. With 68% of parents supporting some phone limits, 35 states now restrict phone usage in public schools. Some states are imposing "bell-to-bell" prohibitions on using phones for the entire day, while others bar them during class time, with students granted access between classes and during lunch. Research shows smartphone usage increases children's risk of mental health problems, "from depression to cyberbullying to an inability to focus and learn," said Mary Ellen Klas in Bloomberg. This is one of the "few things most American politicians seem to agree upon," with states as blue as California and as red as Kentucky passing bans. Over 90% of children have a phone by 14, and about half have one by 10. If you want kids to thrive, "lock up their phones."

Actually, most parents "want smarter rules," not total bans, said Keri Rodrigues in USA Today. All-day bans ignore the bigger picture. "In a country where mass shootings are too common," children need to be able to contact their parents in emergencies and parents need to be able to call kids. At shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Parkland, Fla., "cellphones saved lives," helping students guide first responders to the shooters. Treating phones as pure distractions suggests they "don't have a legitimate and even essential role in students' lives." Technology is an inescapable part of modern life, and schools should be teaching students to "build healthy relationships" with it.

"Before the pearl clutching starts about emergencies, let's be clear," said Cameron Smith in The Tennessean: Most bans allow cellphone use in emergencies. The bans address an ongoing, daily crisis: An entire generation's brains "are quite literally being rewired by constant connectivity," resulting in "the erosion of focus, critical thinking, and the ability to engage deeply with material." But enforcing phone restrictions "will be about as easy as herding cats on roller skates," so parental support is "absolutely crucial." Smartphones are addictive, and have put adults and kids alike "onto attention treadmills." At home, Mom and Dad should also impose limits and model healthy cellphone behavior. We can't "applaud school board policies and then undermine their efforts the moment the bell rings for dismissal."