Is It Time to Ban Cell Phones in Schools?

Data from the US Department of Education indicate that 43% of high schools prohibit cell phones for non-academic use while about three-quarters of elementary and middle schools do so. Oklahoma’s lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban cell phones in the state’s public schools. In this feature, Liz Kolb argues that cell phones should not be banned while John Thompson makes the case for prohibiting them.

Banning Cell Phones in Schools Is Common Sense
John Thompson

Leaders worldwide are finally waking up to the harmful reality of cell phone use in schools. The United Nations recently called on schools to ban cell phones. France, Finland, China, Italy, and other countries have already moved forward with national bans, deciding that cell phones are disruptive and not conducive to learning at school. Last year Florida also became the first US state to prevent students from using their phones during class.

Removing students’ cell phones from schools is long overdue. As a 20-year classroom teacher, I can attest that the problems associated with cell phone use are far more significant than the public realizes. Students simply cannot function at optimal levels when they are constantly distracted by their phones. But don’t take my word for it.

Researchers continue to find that cell phone use is damaging the mental and physical health of young people; producing distractions and disorder in schools; contributing to bullying and glorification of violence; undermining school cultures; “exhausting” teachers; and reducing academic performance. Research has further demonstrated that it is low-achieving and low-income students who benefit most when cell phones are removed from classrooms.

Over thirty years ago, it was obvious that cell phones were going to be a problem. My first cell phone encounter occurred in the late 1990s as a teacher in an Oklahoma City high school. It was the day after a gang-related murder when my students affiliated with the “Crips” stared at a new student, a “Blood,” who was typing into a cell phone. She was requesting armed backup. Before long, students would be focusing on classroom lessons until a text message would come through, and hundreds of students would rush out of their classrooms to watch or participate in fights.

Since then, cell phones have not only made schools less safe but also greatly undermined learning. Learning requires focus and engagement. But cell phones ensure that students are distracted and disengaged. Over the years, I have watched frustrated teachers plead with administrators to ban these devices. Little concrete action is ever taken because administrators fear backlash from parents. These fears are overblown though. In polls, most parents support school cell phone bans.

Some say that cell phones support learning in the classroom, but evidence suggests that they probably cause more confusion than anything else.

For instance, California’s legislators introduced a bill regulating cell phone use by drawing on a Stanford University study showing that “80 percent of middle school students struggled to distinguish online advertisements from news stories.”

During my years in the classroom, I would often find myself watching the body language of students glued to their smart phone screens and lament that we faced an epidemic of loneliness and human disconnection. Systematic reviews of research back up my observations, showing that children and adolescents are lonelier and more isolated today.

Of course, despite the physical, mental, and academic toll that cell phones take, opponents of cell phone bans highlight safety. They claim that students can call their parents in emergencies or during a mass shooting attack. This argument holds little water. There is simply no evidence that having cell phones makes students any safer in an emergency. The ACLU of California’s “Model School Cell Phone Policy” provides clear guidance in this respect:

Electronic signaling devices shall be turned off and kept out of sight during class time or at any other time as directed by a school district employee, except where deemed medically necessary or when otherwise permitted by the teacher or administration. No student shall be prevented from using his/her cell phone in case of an emergency, except where that use inhibits the ability of school district employees to communicate instructions effectively for the safety of students.

But what about digital literacy? Well, we can still cultivate digital ethics and literacy with cell phone bans in place as many schools already do. We stand a better chance of fostering digital literacy without all of the distractions from cell phones in our classrooms.

School policy has been going in the wrong direction for several years. PBS News Hour reported that over a decade ago, 90% of schools prohibited cell phones. But only 76% of high schools banned cell phones in 2020 and just 43% of high schools did so in 2022. It is time to reverse this trend. We have been too slow to act on cell phones. School leaders, legislators, and parents need to step up. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that our children cannot afford to wait.

The Case against Banning Cell Phones in Schools
Liz Kolb

The evidence is clear that cell phones in schools contribute to distractions, cheating, bullying, and unwanted attention. While these concerns are reasons why schools might think it is best to ban cell phones, they are not reason enough to ban them. Here is why…

The most accessible digital device for historically marginalized youth and their families is a cell phone. Allowing cell phones in school is the equitable and just thing to do for students of color, students from lower-income families, and students with exceptionalities.

A recent PEW report found that 76% of lower-income families have access to a smart phone while only 59% of these families have a desktop computer, and even fewer have reliable Broadband access. The number of low-incom e Americans who rely on their smart phones to go online has doubled in the past decade. This reliance on cell phones means less affluent students and families need support at school with how to use cell phones for tasks traditionally done on computers, such as applying for jobs, writing research papers, applying to colleges, doing online banking, and seeking medical care.

When schools ban cell phones, it is harder for teachers to prepare students from less affluent families to use their phones as learning and productivity tools. Accordingly, 59% of lower-income parents said their children faced extra obstacles to completing homework because teachers assign homework with the understanding that students have access to large screen computers at home. This situation can contribute to homework gaps. When phones are allowed in schools, teachers are more likely to teach students how to use phones in productive ways, such as for homework assignments.

You often hear proponents of cell phone bans say that prohibiting phones in school will lead to improved student behavior. But there is little evidence to support this claim. Some schools have even found that barring cell phones creates more problems. A recent national study of 3,000 public schools found that when cell phones were banned, cyberbullying actually became worse. Although there is not a clear reason why, one possibility is that students are less likely to be taught how to use their cell phones for healthy communication once bans are in place. If important discussions on smart phone etiquette and bullying are disregarded when schools prohibit cell phones, that’s a problem. Children may become ill-equipped to handle cyberbullying on their own, which can happen at any time, whether a student attends a school with a cell phone ban or not.

School disciplinary incidents also tend to rise when cell phones are banned. Even more concerning is the students who receive the most disciplinary infractions in such cases are less affluent students. For this reason, New York City dropped its cell phone ban. In their reasoning, officials said that the ban was being enforced more harshly in lower-income schools than in more advantaged ones. For parents, cell phones can give them peace of mind when it comes to safety, and safety is something that should not be dismissed or taken lightly In an era of rising school shootings

Clearly, the best strategy is to manage cell phone use. New research involving university students has found that the negative effect of cell phones on academic outcomes has been overstated. Studies have also found positive outcomes for students using cell phone screens in purposeful ways. For older students, cell phones can be beneficial for content creation, assessment, differentiation, and real-world application, including using digital cameras to collect data for class projects.

Teachers can also help students learn to use their cell phones for self-organization, digital wellness (e.g., screen time reminders for breaks), and assistive features involving IEP accommodations. If teachers are properly trained to use the assistive features of cell phones (e.g., voice notes or hands-free options), they can foster inclusive learning environments. Many mobile accessibility tools are written into student IEPs. Having a personal cell phone at school creates easier access to these options.

If schools are truly committed to issues of equity, justice, and access, then cell phones must not be banned. Schools should instead plan for appropriate and healthy cell phone use with an emphasis on training teachers to leverage cell phones as productive tools. As for the concerns over cheating or distractions from cell phones, these problems can be mitigated with strategic policies consistently enforced by school leaders. A recent UNESCO report cautioned against schools implementing a complete cell phone ban, stating, “Students need to learn the risks and opportunities that come with technology, develop critical skills for using it, and understand how to live with and without technology. Shielding students from new and innovative technology can put them at a disadvantage.”

So rather than banning a tool that increases access for students, schools must make a plan with structure and balance that includes cell phones in learning experiences. In doing so, all students, especially those who enter the education system with fewer advantages, will be getting the digital literacy they need to compete in our digital age.

Author Bios

John Thompson is a historian and retired Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher. The opinions he expresses here are his own.

 

Liz Kolb is Clinical Professor of Teacher Education and Learning Technologies at the University of Michigan. The opinions she expresses here are her own.