The iPhone is a technology that is unique to our generation of kids and young adults. Phones have become extremely important to our daily lives. They’re so useful in so many ways but also problematic in other ways.
Here is why phones have been banned in schools all over the US and the result is less screen time in school.
We use our phones in many useful ways including on-the-spot communication with people continents away as well as information. The amount of information at our fingertips is not only vast, but it’s also easier to find. Before the internet, not only would you have to typically find a book with the information you need but even then you have to find the information in the book.
But do these advantages lend themselves to a school environment? To answer that question we have to consider the negatives. Phones are proven to distract people, especially young students, who already have to force themselves to pay attention to what’s being taught in class.
The major reason for this distraction is social media. As to my own experience as a student, my phone distracts me mostly because of the thought that people could be trying to contact me. Even if it’s not the right place for it I feel the responsibility to respond to someone trying to talk to me subconsciously.
A study by the London School of Economics showed that students perform worse on tests with their phones present. Some even say that the “toxicity” of social media use harms young people’s mental health and that a ban in schools could benefit their health overall.
The positives of our phones don’t outweigh the negatives in a school setting. Many of the positives such as instant information, for example, are eliminated when you can search on a computer. You also can communicate with friends or interact with them on social media on both your phone and computer. Largely, phones distract students, and the disadvantages of phones are glaring and have led to worse results for students.
iPhone addiction is real. COVID greatly increased phone usage not just among young people but for everyone. The isolation that many people experienced due to the pandemic made people turn to the internet for fun and social interaction. This experience didn’t fade from everyone once the world went back to normal, however.
This led to many younger people feeling higher rates of depression and anxiety. Maybe a ban at school could be helpful to those people who can’t stop looking at their phones to warn off the addiction just a little.
What about the results? Have schools seen higher rates of success when students ditch their phones? Yes. Every school that has some sort of restrictions for phone use has received higher results from their students. Due to these successes phone restrictions at the state level have increased with now 31 states that have some restrictions and 8 with an all-out ban on cell phones.
Students say that they feel that without phones their interactions with peers feel more authentic. I believe that not only do smartphone bans benefit student outcomes but I also think that they’re necessary to grow deeper connections to your classmates and the students you learn about.
