By Michaela Gordoni
Over two-thirds of US states now have restrictions or bans for phones in classrooms.
Most teachers (70%) prefer banning phones during the school day, and 31 states have some kind of rule restricting use, CBN observed.
A bipartisan bill for Michigan recently passed in the state House and is now under consideration in the state Senate. In Washington, lawmakers recently examined the impact of screens on children during a US Senate hearing.
“When tech enters education, learning goes down,” Dr. Jared Horvath, a former teacher and cognitive neuroscientist, testified at Senate.
Related: Children Spend Lots of School Time on Their Phones…That Doesn’t Sound Good
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a phone, if it’s a laptop, if it’s a desktop, and it doesn’t matter who bought it,” he explained. “Is it school-sanctioned? Does it have the word ‘education’ stamped on it? It doesn’t matter.”
“All of these things are also going to hurt learning, which in turn hurts kids’ cognitive development,” he said.
Sweden is already on that page. When it caught on that screens had a more harmful effect on students and teachers were overworked with screen management, it put a stop to screens in classrooms. It has allocated €104 million between 2022 and 2025 to bring printed books back into schools, IDR reported.
Emily Cherkin, a faculty member at the University of Washington, also testified before the Senate. “Doesn’t technology make our lives easier and prepare our children for the future? Unfortunately, no,” Cherkin said, “in spite of the rosy claims made by technology companies.”
“Occupational therapists tell me they have to teach young children how to turn the pages of a book,” she continued. “Preschool teachers report that toddlers don’t like getting their hands dirty anymore. I know one teen so addicted to his phone he seals it into a Ziploc bag and brings it into the shower with him.”
Kim Whitman, co-lead of Smartphone Free Childhood US, says the shift to phone-free schools will mirror the 1994 federal law that banned smoking in schools.
“I think in five to 10 years we’ll be asking, ‘What were we thinking?'” Whitman said.
She added, “Within the next decade, we’re going to look back and be shocked that we ever allowed smartphones in schools—just like we once allowed smoking lounges on school grounds. They’re both health-harming products, and they’re destroying kids’ ability to focus, their health, and their well-being.”
One psychologist noted that, in the absence of phones, “laughter can be heard in the hallways again.” Learning and healthy socialization — that’s what every school should prioritize.
Read Next: America’s 2nd-largest School District Bans Cellphones and Social Media
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +1