Elementary and middle school students will not be allowed to use cell phones on school campuses during the school day, WSMV reports:
The school board in Williamson County voted on Monday night to prohibit students from using cellphones on its elementary and middle school campuses.
After amending the language of the policy, the board voted 10-2 to approve the new policy, which requires elementary and middle school students to lock away their phones during the school day.
Over the last several years, school districts around the country have begun to enact cell phone bans or cell phone restrictive policies.
The thinking is that decreasing use of phones during the school day decreases distractions and increases student focus.
But, does it work?
Data from one district in Florida suggests positive results.
“Interestingly, we observe significantly improved student test scores in the second year of the ban (about 2-3 percentiles higher than the year before the ban) when suspensions revert to pre-ban levels.”
The study, which is not peer-reviewed, also noted a decline in unexcused absences, which researchers say may have contributed to the higher academic performance.
The data indicate that a ban may initially cause disciplinary challenges as students and families adjust. However, the study notes that those issues resolve in a second year – Researchers did suggest that as much as half of the improvement in student scores may be the result of improved attendance.
It will be interesting to see results in other districts to see if similar results are shown – and what, if any, negative impacts occur.
Managing screens at school can be a challenge.
A new California law seeks to prohibit “addictive content” from being served to children during school hours via cell phone apps.
Of course, there are all sorts of problems with implementation and enforcement.
But, the passage of this law points to an uncomfortable reality: cell phone addiction is a “new normal.”
We expect kids to be addicted to their phones, and are now entering the phase of attempting to “manage” that addiction.
Last year, Gallup found that over half of U.S. teens ages 13-19 spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media. Female teens spend an average of 5.3 each day on social media compared to the 4.4 hours average of teen males. A Common Sense Media Study found that 97% of kids 11 through 17 years old use their phones at school. The most popular usage among teenagers is TikTok at 32%, YouTube at 26%, and gaming at 17%.
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