If you’ve been reading this column for the last few months, you probably aren’t surprised that I wish the school cell phone ban didn’t stop at break or lunch time. I think it needs to go bell to bell. Why? Because a lot of life happens before, between and after class.
I asked friends who are parents, teachers and students what they’re finding about the Nova Scotia directive that cell phones be turned off during instructional time.
I was told things like:
“I honestly think that kids want to be kids and taking away these distractions allows them to be so.”
“My friends are actually learning and paying attention in class now, even math.”
“If they all can’t text during class, they don’t feel like they’re missing out on anything.”
Jonathon Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, (a must-read in my opinion) wrote about the push to “wait until eight” or Grade 8 for smartphones.
Since publishing, Haidt and his team now push for parents to delay smartphones until age 14 and social media until 16. A study done by Sapien Labs finds that kids who use this technology at a young age become adults with worse mental health.
Schools that have banned phones report increased test scores, lower rates of cyberbullying, increased memory and attention spans.
I know, I know. Parents want to be able to get a hold of their kids and to be reachable in return. BUT I am willing to call the school if it means I can give my kids the undivided time to just be a kid at school. No distractions. No notifications.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says “schools should ensure that classroom learning and social time are phone-free experiences.” (Emphasis is mine.)
The bus ride is where you make your first friends.
Between class is where you share a joke.
Lunch time is where you awkwardly make eye-contact with your crush.
These are critical personal and social growth moments but they are being dissolved into a virtual unreality.
Yes, test scores matter, and I think this is a step in the right direction but I think we need to protect the in-between moments too.
Maybe next year.
