Parents are also gradually beginning to embrace the “No Phones in Childhood” movement and are considering the “Wait Until Age 8” pledge, which supports delaying giving a child a phone until at least the end of eighth grade. There is. Twice in the past week, he’s seen social media posts of newcomers to metro Atlanta searching for schools that ban cell phones.
Ten years ago, many schools were looking to introduce smartphones into the classroom as learning tools. Technology advocates called it the “new calculator,” which they also pointed out was once banned from classes.
However, the calculator did not offer TikTok like the smartphone. And it turns out students prefer scrolling through TikTok over math theorems.
Pediatrician Dr. Michael Rich, director and founder of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, said in a recent podcast on Kids and Screens: These are over a million times more powerful than the computers that landed Apollo 11 on the moon. And 99% of what’s out there is a distraction, something that distracts you from what’s going on in front of you, whether it’s school, hanging out with friends, or going for a walk. ”
Many schools ban the use of cell phones in the classroom, but it is up to teachers to police it, and that is not an easy task. At a staff meeting in July, Marietta City Schools Superintendent Grant Rivera pumped his fist and stomped his foot to emphasize that the district’s ambitious literacy goals cannot be met without reducing cell phone use. did.
But a few months into the school year, Marietta’s teachers were discouraged and exhausted trying to control their phones. Last week, Rivera proposed making Marietta the first system in Georgia to test. Yondru is a lockable pouch for cell phones that is common at concerts but is now being introduced in schools. The school board is scheduled to vote on the plan in June.
Rivera has been concerned about cell phones for years, but a 2020 family survey found little support for restricting cell phone use. Since she announced the outline of her middle school porch plan starting next year, she said, “No one is going to tell me in 2024 what they told me in 2020.”
Over the past four years, the number of children with mobile phones has exploded. But so are concerns about the impact on their mental health.
Common Sense Media estimates that 88% to 95% of teens ages 13 to 18 now own their own smartphones. Common Sense Media researched how often kids pull out their phones at school and found that 97% of students spent a median of 43 minutes on their phones during class. The kids were mostly texting and watching TikTok and YouTube.
The 2023 Common Sense report “Constant Companion” found that overall, students use their smartphones for almost 4.5 hours per day. Reflecting the industry’s deliberate strategy to attract users, the children surveyed received a median of 237 notifications a day from their mobile phones, a siren that they can’t help but respond to. I received a call.
Research shows that children and teens are lonelier and more hopeless than previous generations, despite having 24/7 connectivity in their back pockets. Increased daily use of social media is linked to anxiety, depression, and lower grade point averages. The decline in youth mental health and the rise in suicide and self-harm among young people coincide with the proliferation of smartphones and social media apps that has pushed bullying from the playground to the web.
Recent headlines about the effects of digital distraction include “Kids with smartphones aren’t okay” and “Do you want to raise a messed up kid?” Let me give you your smartphone.” “Is this the end of your reading?”
With so much anxiety, the obvious question is: Why can’t schools tell parents to keep their phones at home so their students can attend school and pay attention?
That’s where it gets complicated. As many school districts know firsthand, some parents oppose strict bans on phone use. After all, they’re the ones buying smartphones for 10-year-olds. Parents have defended the decision, arguing that children need cellphones in case of emergencies, including the dire possibility of a school shooting.
In Atlanta in November, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of the best-selling and influential new book “Anxious Generations: The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Driving an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” warned that they were holding on to the wrong threats. “We overprotect our children in the real world, which is very safe, and leave them vulnerable in the virtual world, which has no value to them and is actually full of danger. It’s gone.”
Rivera believes parents are now recognizing the downsides of a phone-based childhood and are calling for community solidarity to reverse it.
“I think families are desperate to have momentum and numbers on their side,” he says. “All I know is that the time is right for Marietta. Yes, we have to go through all the complexities to do it, but I am confident that my family will believe in me. I received incredible support and overwhelming support from my teachers. I can’t go back to what I had.”
