Why Schools Are Banning Smartphones
By Movieguide® Contributor
Social media and smartphone use continue to hurt teens, and due to staggeringly concerning statistics, some governments are choosing to restrict teen social media use.
In England, government ministers are working on placing bans on the use of phones at school. The country’s Department of Education secretary, Gillian Keegan, said of the problem, “You go to school, you go to learn, you go to create those friendships, you go to speak to people and socialize and you go to get educated. You don’t go to sit on your mobile phone or to send messages while you could actually talk to somebody.”
One school isn’t waiting on the government and took matters into its own hands. St. Albans in Hertfordshire stated in May that children under 14 would not be permitted to have smartphones at school.
Several states and school districts in the U.S. have implemented similar restrictions. Movieguide® reported:
A district in Iowa recently decided to ban phones in its schools, and the students have thrived since the decision passed…
California is also on the road to improving students’ behavior and focus in class. Last month, a bill passed that requires all public schools to ban or limit phone use at school.
“The Phone-Free Schools Act, introduced by Assemblyman Josh Hoover, would give the state’s public schools until July 2026 to come up with a plan to implement a ban or other limits on smart phones…,” ABC 7 reported last month. “Some schools and districts in Southern California have already taken steps to implement their own phone bans. The Los Angeles Unified School District approved a ban for its campuses in June.”
Why are schools so concerned about social media and phone use?
“Between 2010 and 2015, suicide rates among 10 to 14-year-old girls and boys increased by 167 and 92 per cent respectively,” The Telegraph reported. “Self-harm rates for teenage girls in the UK soared by 78 percent. Anxiety diagnoses for those aged 18 to 25 jumped by 92 per cent. During this same five-year period, smartphones reached a majority of US households – they were adopted faster than any other communication technology in human history.”
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has been sounding the alarm about the social media epidemic, especially through his book The Anxious Generation.
“The companies had done little or no research on the mental health effects of their products on children and adolescents, and they shared no data with researchers studying the health effects. When faced with growing evidence that their products were harming young people, they mostly engaged in denial, obfuscation, and public relations campaigns,” he explained.
Social media’s harmful effects have become so serious that US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has demanded giving platforms a warning label.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy said earlier this year.
Movieguide® previously reported:
US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has said that he believes 13 is too young for children to join social media platforms.
“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early, it’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children,” Murthy said…
“If parents can band together and say you know, as a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18 or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” Murthy said.
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