By Gavin Boyle
A full school year after cell phones were banned, parents and teachers at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School are thrilled with the results, but the kids want their phones back.
“It has truly shifted the culture of school and the ability for our kids to be kids,” counselor Carley Spitzer told Geek Wire. “There is so much more joy and connection.”
Beyond noticing social improvements, teachers at the school have seen a greater ability for their students to focus, fewer disruptions while teaching and even less fighting among students as they are able to dissolve tensions, rather than heat them up as phones come out.
Not every result, however, has been an improvement, as 10-15% of the student body reported more difficulty regulating their emotions and stress as a result of not having their phones.
“I thought their stress would go down,” said Lucía Magis-Weinberg, a University of Washington assistant professor studying cellphone policy. “[Their stress increasing] was very, very surprising.”
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Magis-Weinberg, however, believes this increase in stress is largely due to a reliance on technology, something that needs to be addressed outside of school as well.
Previous studies have shown that nearly half of all kids are on their screens constantly when able, revealing just how hooked on technology they have become. Though many wish things were different, their developing brains can’t resist the dopamine they get from these algorithmic sites. For this reason, last summer, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a Surgeon General’s warning to be placed on social media, warning young users of the negative effects of the technology.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in New York Times piece. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of all adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”
Almost immediately after this call, lawmakers began drafting bills to ban cell phones in schools to help kids get a break from the technology. Though the preliminary report from Robert Eagle Staff Middle School prove these bans help, it also makes it clear that more than just school cell phone bans will be necessary to help the younger generation overcome their technology addiction.
Read Next: Is Everyone in Favor of School Cell Phone Bans?
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