Any new technology is going to take a while to understand. I can still remember when there was panic over kids using calculators in the classroom and the belief that children would never again be able to add or subtract on their own. Our schools have now successfully integrated computers (at least in schools well-enough funded by the state to have them), but should children’s individual smartphones be part of the learning environment? A couple of years ago, I may have said, “Sure.” They are just another tool our children use to learn and communicate. But new reports on the impact of smartphones on children in the classroom are making me reconsider. Turns out that there is plenty of reason to believe that phones are distracting kids from their own learning and a nuisance to other students and teachers as well.
For an interesting summary of the state of the science, check out a report from Paige MacPherson who recently wrote an article for the Toronto Star that makes the case for banning cellphones as an antidote to our children’s sagging scores on international standardized tests. Having worked with thousands of educators over the past two years, one doesn’t need a randomized control trial or big data to tell us that something is amiss in our schools. All those buzzing, beeping, pinging phones are taking attention away from learning at a time when kids need to be focused.
The problem even extends into post-secondary institutions. Melissa Huey at the New York Institute of Technology showed through a small study with 106 students that those who had their phones physically removed from them during class reported much higher levels of comprehension, scored lower on measures of anxiety, and demonstrated much better mindfulness in the classroom than students who kept their phones with them, whether those phones were on or off.
The Parent Problem
Thankfully, school boards are listening to both their teaching staff and researchers. This coming school year, jurisdictions across the United States and Canada are banning cellphones in classrooms, with different strategies being used to get them turned off. The strategies that seem to be working best are the ones that ensure a total ban and have zero tolerance for kids using their phones during class time. When a rule is applied to everyone, it is easier to enforce.
The problem, though, has been two-fold. The first is that kids who are socially disadvantaged by poverty and race are reporting being monitored more closely by educators and given harsher punishments for breaking the cellphone ban. That is sadly not an uncommon experience for children from groups exposed to racism and intolerance. Consistency in how rules are applied would go a long way to ensuring equity in our schools.
The bigger problem, though, is parents who insist they have a right to be in touch with their child at all times and that removing a child’s phone puts their child at risk. What if there is a school shooting? Bullying? Or the child feels sick? Parents have become hypervigilant to any and every threat to their child’s safety. Unfortunately, overprotective parenting can make children more anxious and perform worse academically (in other words, all that energy protecting children is actually disadvantaging them developmentally). Taking away the phones and telling parents to calm down would go a long way to helping children thrive as learners and give them a break from parents who are doing them more harm than good.
While I can empathize with parents who want a lifeline to their children at all times, one has to ask, “At what cost are we keeping cellphones in the classroom?” and “Do they really keep our child safer during a crisis?” The answer to both questions is troubling. While there is a remote chance of violence in our schools, cellphones have become a guaranteed threat to our child’s mental health and academic performance. Why risk the obvious on the off chance there is a violent incident at school?
Parents might hate to be told what they can and cannot do, but in this case, we have to trust our educators and support them when they do what they need to do to ensure our children’s well-being and academic success.