Many schools, both public and private, are banning cell phones. Is this a good idea? Let me present three connected points and a (seemingly) logical conclusion:
Nearly all teenagers — 95 percent — are on social media, like TikTok, WhatsApp and their counterparts. One-third of teens admit to using social media “almost constantly.”
Social media is damaging our kids, according to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: “The types of use and content children and adolescents are exposed to pose mental health concerns. Children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“This is concerning, as a recent survey showed that teenagers spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media. And when asked about the impact of social media on their body image, 46 percent of adolescents aged 13 to 17 said social media makes them feel worse.”
A national mental health emergency for children and adolescents was declared by the American Academy of Pediatrics back in 2021. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports, “In 2021 and 2022, 21 percent of adolescents reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety in the past two weeks, and 17 percent reported experiencing symptoms of depression.” Undoubtedly, matters have only gotten worse, as teens’ use of social media has increased.
How does it hurt our kids? Let me count the ways:
- Social media exposes young people to “extreme, inappropriate content.”
- Social media makes them — especially adolescent girls — feel bad about their bodies.
- Social media is a haven for predators. Nearly 6 in 10 girls say they’ve been contacted by strangers online “in ways that make them feel uncomfortable.”
- Social media can overstimulate their brains in ways similar to addiction, leading to problems sleeping and difficulty paying attention.
- Time on social media is time that is not spent with peers, developing relationships, learning about life’s give-and-take, what Erik Erikson calls “identity formation.”
Teenagers access social media on their cell phones, and 95 percent of teenagers have their own cell phone. These ubiquitous devices are their portal, their entry point, their lifeline to social media. Without cell phones, teenagers have extremely limited access to social media. (It’s not just teens, of course. According to the National Institutes of Health, “Mobile phone adoption in the U.S. is starting in late childhood and early adolescence; currently, 53 percent of children have a smartphone by age 11.”)
Without cell phones, teenagers won’t be on social media, so cell phones should be banned. Without cell phones, teenagers won’t be taking 100 or more selfies to get the “perfect” photo to post. They won’t be making 10-second videos for TikTok, or spending hours watching cats being cute. If they aren’t on social media, the thinking goes, they will be more social. If they aren’t communicating with a machine, they will engage in genuine personal communication.
In fact, a growing number of public school districts — including here on the Vineyard — and private schools have come to that conclusion. They have banned cell phones, or developed policies designed to severely limit their use.
The Washington Post reported in depth on this issue in late August, just as schools were opening. According to the Post, at least seven of the nation’s 20 largest school districts have banned or severely restricted cell phone use. It’s not just large districts, of course. Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School requires students to put their phones into pouches when they enter the school building, and they can retrieve them at day’s end.
Banning phones may be necessary (I think it is), but it is not sufficient, not even close. What are adults offering in exchange? What’s the rest of this bargain? Without some other steps, some quid pro quo, this will be perceived by most teens as heavy-handed and punitive, something being done to them against their will, something that makes school even less appealing.
Of course many kids see the ban as punitive, and why wouldn’t they? When adults try to reassure them by saying, “Trust us. This is for your own good,” that only confirms their suspicions. This is being done to them — and so they are going to devote a lot of energy to beating the ban.
Unfortunately, schools and the adults who run them are too often reactive, when thoughtful, proactive behavior is called for. Instead of simply banning phones, the adults ought to be trying to get young people to want to come to school regularly, not simply “to attend school.” To do that, schools (with or without cell phones) need to be interesting, challenging, and safe.
Let me suggest four specific steps that should, I believe, accompany the cell phone ban:
1) Restore the full range of extra-curricular opportunities, because most kids come to school so they can do interesting stuff with their friends.
2) Homeroom should become an extended period, not just a quick five minutes when attendance is taken. Make daily homeroom a pressure-free time when students — without phones to distract them — can catch up with friends, forge new relationships, finish homework, or even take naps. “Home” is the operative word here. For most high school and middle school students, “Homeroom” is the equivalent of the starting blocks in a track meet. They touch base, listen to (or maybe ignore) morning announcements, and, when the bell sounds, dash off to class. In truth, “Homeroom” matters to school administrators only because it gives them a head count, but it’s a meaningless, perfunctory exercise for kids. For them, “Homeroom” is just a room, about as far from actually being a home as one can imagine.
That could change. America’s teenagers desperately need more “Home” in their lives, more opportunities to connect with others, more moments that tell them they matter. The rigidity of today’s high-pressure school schedules makes matters worse, not better.
The simple — not easy, but simple — fix is to make Homeroom more of a home, not just another room. Some teachers will have to be convinced that this new time period is an opportunity for them to expand their own professional repertoire of skills to include their students’ social and emotional growth. The challenge may be to train teachers to listen and not react, in order to allow young people to identify and share their feelings. Newsweek magazine reports that Tacoma, Wash., schools are doing this, training not only teachers but also parents and school bus drivers.
In each of these new, extended homerooms, teachers and their students will have to work together to figure out how they want to use this time. Some students may want to finish homework, or sleep, but the teacher could steer the conversation in the direction of “team building.”
Perhaps one day a week could be set aside for discussion of some interesting questions (“If you could meet one figure from history, who would it be, and why?”), even trivial ones (“What questions would you like to ask Taylor Swift?”).
Ideally, Homeroom will turn into a safe space where students can learn to share, and will agree that what’s shared there stays there. No bullying allowed.
3) Expand course offerings to include some college classes and vocational training opportunities. Meet kids where they are, not where you think they should be.
4) Work harder to make schools safe in three vital ways: physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Emotional safety means that bullying and cyber-bullying are not tolerated. Intellectually safe schools celebrate curiosity. In these schools, adults encourage students to admit when they do not understand or are confused, often by modeling that behavior. Intellectually safe schools don’t treat kids as numbers, but as growing and changing individuals. (And young people who are treated with respect are unlikely to bring their dad’s AK-47 to school.)
Without cell phones as a crutch, and given a more stimulating environment, most young people will be inclined to engage with one another. With adult guidance, they can explore new ideas, share curiosities, make plans, and so forth. They can learn that there is life without cell phones.
Removing cell phones creates new opportunities and challenges, but that won’t happen if adults simply enforce the ban. That is, banning cell phones in school is necessary, but not sufficient.
I think it’s time for the grownups to grow up — and step up.
John Merrow is a former education correspondent with “PBS NewsHour.” He lives on Martha’s Vineyard.