The Patriot Post® · A School Ban We Can Agree On

Educators have been working for years to get their pupils back on track after those devastating pandemic school closures. But correcting the dire learning situation has been a work in progress ever since students returned to in-person learning.

Nonetheless, there’s a recent school policy that has taken hold across the country, and it might improve the trajectory for those who are still behind, as well as improve the success of those who are in their early years of adapting to the classroom environment.

If you are a parent preparing for the upcoming school year, you likely received an email from your district regarding a new cellphone policy to go into effect for the 2024 school year. Communities across the country have decided to clamp down on cellphone usage and use of social media apps while on campus, instructing students to either turn their phones off or put them on silent.

While the proposal is new to the U.S., such restrictions have been in place in other countries and have delivered a positive impact on exam scores while boosting the overall well-being for all involved.

As Forbes reports, “In September 2018, the French government banned the use of mobile phones in schools.” The law says that “children cannot use their telephones inside school grounds, nor can they connect via any device to the internet,” while making exceptions for children with special needs who might need immediate contact with a parent, caregiver, or medical professional.

Research has shown “increasingly conclusive findings linking cell phone bans to improved academic performance, enhanced mental health and more equitable outcomes for students,” says Jill Haffley, vice president of the the Colorado Springs School District 11 board of directors. As less time is spent with eyes glued to a screen, an improvement in concentration and the ability to retain information while enhancing their real-life connection to other human beings might grant the wish that some of us have: that our kids have a school experience similar to the cellphone-free existence that most of us grew up with.

Other areas of school life that could be improved by a cellphone-free system include student-on-student bullying and student-on-teacher violence. It’s no secret that social media has created nightmarish bullying scenarios for far too many students. The use of these apps makes it impossible for victims to escape the harassment of others or find any relief from the challenges created by unkind peers. Teachers, too, may find themselves on better terms with their pupils if they don’t have to compete with TikTok or Snapchat for their attention.

It has become far too common on social media to see videos of teachers facing a threat or literal act of violence at the simple request for students to put their phones away, or after having taken them away when they refuse to comply. The risk would be significantly mitigated with a universal understanding that personal devices are not to be used during school hours at all.

Florida was among the first to adopt this phone-free approach last year, and districts across the country are taking similar action. Florida’s Martin County issued its notice this year to reinforce what had been successfully enacted in 2023 across the state.

In New York’s Lackawanna City School District, a no-cellphone/electronics policy was announced for grades 6-12. As Superintendent Nadia Nashir explained, “We need to do something and research has shown that schools that consistently restrict cell phones during the day, their students do better in every area academically, socially, and emotionally.”

Folsom Cordova Unified School District in California used even more specific language in its policy to include “cell phones, smart phones, smart watches, and other communications devices,” likely as a way to get ahead of those students who tell their parents that since their specific device wasn’t mentioned, it doesn’t count.

Though a cellphone ban may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to more pressing challenges, when we can find an issue that has support across the political spectrum — and when we can agree on its benefits for children regardless of background, ethnicity, or LGBTQ identity — we will take the win.